The Story Retold
by Morgorah
Summary: Frances Burrows starts Hogwarts the same year as Harry and co. This is the story we all know and love from a different perspective.
1. Chapter 1, The Letter

The Story Retold

**AN: So this is my first Harry Potter fanfic. I have read way too many to even count and really wanted to give it a go myself. I thought I'd start off with my own character until I get more familiar with everything and try to get Jo's characters right. Anyways, if you like it please let me know, and if not, feel free to tell me how I can make it better. Until the next chapter,**

**Morgorah.**

**Disclaimer: I own Frances and her family, that's it, everything else belongs to the fantastic JKR.**

Chapter 1, The Letter.

Frances liked spending her lunch breaks here, here she could think. She could think about the things that the other children just wouldn't understand. This was her favourite place, nothing special, just a little alcove between two walls behind the school, but if she was honest with herself, she would admit that she was in fact hiding.

She couldn't remember ever doing anything to upset the other children. She had never had any "accidents" as she called them. They could just somehow tell that she was different, and nasty little children liked to take advantage of different. Then there was Alfie, her little brother. He was like her, he was different, but everyone loved him. Of course she was the only one who knew the real reason he was able to save little Tommy from the angry dog, but to everyone else he was just incredibly brave, and as a result, incredibly popular.

Frances' thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of the school bell. Reluctantly she got her things together and made her way round to the front of the small building to join the line of children, all waiting to go back inside. From where she stood she could see Alfie, surrounded, as always, by his many friends. When he saw her though, he waved and ran towards her grinning.

"Hey Frances!" He exclaimed once he had reached her.

"Hey" Frances replied. Even though she was smiling at him Alfie could tell that his sister was upset about something again, just from the tone of her voice.

"Are you alright?" he asked, but before she could answer three girls from her class strutted up to them.

"Oh look," one of them began, "Little Frances has a friend!"

"No she doesn't" the other joined in, "It's just her brother, and he has to be nice to her, he's family." The three girls burst out laughing and walked away before either of them could say anything back.

"Don't listen to them," Alfie said, and then added "I'll see you at home." He gave her a hug and ran off to join his own class.

For the rest of the afternoon Frances was unable to concentrate. She hated it here, hated her school, hated the other children, and hated the fact that if she was normal, like them, then things would be different. She might even have friends. But she wasn't like them, she had a secret.

Her Grandfather had explained it all to her when she was little, explained that she had a special gift. He told her that when she was old enough she would get to go to the school that he had went to, and learn to use this gift. He told her many things about the people who where special. Like the secret street they had in London, and this fascinating sport they played, on flying brooms!

For as long as she could remember she had been able to do things, strange things, without actually trying to do them. Once, when she had gotten into trouble, she had run upstairs to the safety of her bedroom and slammed the door shut. When her parents came up to find her they found the door locked despite the fact that the key was still sitting downstairs on the kitchen table. There was also the time she had had a horrible nightmare, and when she woke up, the bedroom light had come on of its own accord.

After Alfie was born she had started to look out for signs that he might be the same, and sure enough, when he was just one year old, he tripped and fell down the stairs. Before he reached the bottom however, he managed to turn himself upright, and float the rest of the way down, landing safely at the bottom with his two small feet firmly on the ground.

Frances found herself smiling as she relived the joy she had felt watching her brother float down the stairs. All she could think at the time was how she wouldn't have to keep this secret to herself any more. She could share the wonders of this magical world that her grandfather had told her about, and one day they would be a part of it together.

For the second time that day the sound of the school bell interrupted Frances' thoughts, but this time she jumped to her feet. It was home time! She hurriedly flung her school books into her bag, slung one strap over her shoulder and bolted for the door, her red hair a mess as it flapped behind her. She ran down the corridor, pushed open the main door and stepped outside, only to jump back inside again. The rain was pouring down so hard that it bounced off the ground. She had an umbrella in her bag somewhere. As she fished around for it she could hear the other children's footsteps getting closer, but just as she pulled it out of her bag she felt herself being pushed from behind and went flying head first out of the door, landing face down on the wet, hard ground. Fighting back tears she looked up to see who had pushed her, but they had already ran off. In the distance she could hear their laughter.

Frances picked herself up slowly and waited miserably for the rest of the children to leave the playground, watching as the last of them headed towards the village and home. When they were out of sight, she made her own way across the playground and out of the big black iron gate at the bottom. Instead of turning right like the other children had done, Frances turned left, and followed the path until she came to a small wooden gate that looked like it could fall apart if you lent too hard on it. As far as she knew no one ever came this way, for behind the gate was an entrance to the large forest the village sat in front of. She had used it as a hiding place for many years, and often used it to travel to and from school to avoid the other children. Sure it added a good hour onto the journey, but it wasn't like she had anything to rush home for.

She had come this way so often that she could make her way through the trees with ease, and after about 20 minutes she came to the large flat rock that was her usual stop. The rain had ceased and she decided that what she really needed was a just a few moments to herself, and some time to think. After putting her umbrella back in her bag she sat down, lent back against the tree trunk and closed her eyes. She was trying to forget about everything that had happened at school that day and think about the things that made her happy. She thought about the things that her grandfather had loved to talk about; ancient castles and magical creatures, flying and making potions. Suddenly she heard a loud screech from above and when she looked up she could see an owl flying overhead. _It's a little early for owls _she thought to herself. _Oh well, better head back home. _With that she picked up her things and went on her way.

Frances and Alfie lived with their parents in a rather large white house on the hill that overlooked the village. After climbing the 12 steps to the front door it wasn't very surprising that Frances always found herself at least a little out of breath, and today was no exception. Once inside she dropped her bag onto the floor and took off her shoes, placing them next to Alfie's, and then proceeded to the living room. Her father was already home from work and she greeted him as she flopped down onto the sofa.

"How was your day sweetheart?" He asked.

"Same as always," was her not so enthusiastic reply.

With nothing more to say she picked up the TV remote and started to flick carelessly through the channels. She wasn't actually interested in what was on but it meant she wouldn't have to talk to her father about school. She didn't get very far in her channel surfing because Alfie came running into the living room brandishing a strange looking envelope.

"Frances! Frances! You have a letter!" he was shouting as he ran up to her, his face beaming with excitement. Frances took the letter and looked curiously at the envelope. Sure enough her name and address were written on the front in green ink. She turned it over and found a red seal on the back, with the letter H imprinted on it.

"Well, open it," Alfie encouraged. Slowly she broke the seal on the back and opened the letter:

* * *

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards.)

Dear Miss. Burrows

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

* * *

Frances was completely unaware of how long she had stared at the letter, reading it over and over. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she had been accepted! All of a sudden she burst out laughing.

"What is it?" Alfie asked, unable to hold his tongue any longer.

"It's Grandad's school, I've been accepted at Hogwarts!"

Now that she had said it aloud she just couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face; she would no longer have to go to that horrible school, she would be with other children that were like her. Feeling like she could quite possibly burst from excitement she jumped out of her chair and picked her little brother up, spinning him round and round. When she finally put him safely back on the ground she ran over to her father and practically shoved the letter in his face.

"That's wonderful sweetheart," he said chuckling, and embraced her in a fatherly hug.

She couldn't remember ever feeling as happy as she did now. She felt like running out of the house and shouting it to the world; "I'm going to Hogwarts!" Of course if she did do that no one would have a clue what she was talking about, and her grandfather had told her never to tell anyone about it, except her family. Instead she settled for dragging her father to his feet and dancing around him, laughing joyously the whole time.

A moment later the celebrations were interrupted by her mother's voice shouting "Dinner's ready!" from the kitchen, and in a split second Alfie had bolted out of the door towards food. Frances looked at her father and laughed again, a short giggle.

"Come on," he said, "Let's go tell your mother the good news."

As she made her way through the long hallway to the kitchen Frances found herself suddenly nervous. She really didn't know would her mother was going to react to the news. Her father understood, his parents had been magical, although he seemed to be unable to perform magic himself. Her mother however new nothing of this other world. Unconsciously she hid the letter behind her back as she entered the room. Alfie was already at the table, knife and fork in hand, which made Frances laugh and relax a little, so she sat down qietly and waited for the food to be served.

"How was your day sweetheart?" Mary asked after she had handed out everyone's meal and took her seat at the table. Mary was a beautiful woman, quite petite with shiny blonde hair that she usually wore tied back from her face, and a warm friendly smile, which was currently directed at her daughter.

"Um..." was all Frances could manage.

"Go on," her father encouraged, "show your mother the letter."

Reluctantly she handed the letter across the table. The room was silent as Mary read it, and when she finished reading she looked up at her daughter, her mouth slightly ajar, and then turned towards her husband.

At first she said nothing, just stared at him, trying to piece everything together. When she did speak it was in a quiet, strangled voice, barely even a whisper.

"She's a... a witch." It wasn't a question. "I, I thought you were joking, when you told me before I, I thought you were winding me up, but you weren't," she finished lamely.

"Oh come now Mary," Christopher said. His voice was strong and encouraging, he didn't want Frances to feel upset. "You said yourself how strange you thought my father was, and you've seen the things Frances can do, and Alfie for that matter." Mary still looked completely lost, what did Aderyn have to do with it, he'd had magic too?

Christopher sighed and reached across the table to take his wife's shaking hand in his own. "It doesn't change anything," he said, speaking more calmly now. "Our daughter is still the same person she always was, she's a wonderful girl with very special gifts, and now she has the chance to go and learn how to use them. We still love her just the same as we always have." After another pause Mary sighed and finally looked at her daughter, who was currently looking at her hands and trying not to blush at her father's words. She hadn't expected her mother to be so disappointed, and when Mary realised this she felt horrible.

"I'm so sorry sweetheart," she said, "I didn't mean to upset you, it's just so... unexpected. Your father's right of course, I don't love you any less." She smiled her warm smile at her daughter, but then a thought suddenly occurred to her. "You don't seem very surprised by all this," she said.

"Grandad told me about it, when I was little, about his school...and magic." It felt weird, talking so openly about something she had kept secret for so long. Mary just nodded, it all made sense to her now. She hadn't understood why Frances had been so close to Aderyn, or why she hadn't fit in at school, or why she always seemed to be lost in her own imagination most of the time. She remembered the little games Aderyn used to play with the children, and she thought that Frances had just clung onto them as she got older. Now she knew it had never been just a game.

After dinner the family retired to the living room. Mary still seemed a little shaken, but other than that things were back to normal. Alfie was on the floor, surrounded by the many pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and Christopher was watching a football game on the TV. Frances however felt like she could burst from the excitement she was feeling. She unfolded the letter to read it again, and noticed the second page that she hadn't looked at before.

* * *

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WHICHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

sets of plain work robes (black)

plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring and owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

* * *

After reading it through she had a thought.

"Could you take me to London?" She asked her father.

Caught by surprise he asked her "What do you want to go to London for?" So she showed him the list.

"I don't know where in London your going to find any of these."

"I do," she said grinning. "Grandad told me of a street there, that only people like me can find. I don't know where it is though," she frowned. Trying to remember anything specific about the street, she cast her memory back to the days before Aderyn passed away. She remembered a letter he had given her and he'd told her to keep it safe. She had locked it away with some of his other possessions, and it had never been opened as she was unable to read it at the time, being only 5 years old.

Without a word of explanation she jumped up and ran out of the room. When she reached her bedroom she dived under the bed and started rummaging until she felt the old wooden box she had hidden there a long time ago. As she held it tears started to prickle her eyes, she still missed her grandfather very much. Slowly she lifted the lid and took out the contents one by one. The first thing she picked up was a small stick, completely smooth and thicker at one end. When she picked it up with the thicker end she felt as though the very air around her was vibrating. "Grandad's wand," she whispered. Shivering at the feeling she put the wand carefully on the floor beside her.

The next thing she picked up was a small golden ball. As she held it on her open palm it sprouted tiny golden wings and hovered in the air above her. She grinned as she remembered playing with this very same ball when she was little, chasing it around the room. She hadn't dared take it outside for fear that it might fly away. Her grandfather had told her she would make an excellent seeker, but she couldn't remember what that was.

The last thing in the box was a book entitled Hogwarts A History. Picking it up very gently she opened it, and lying in between the cover and the first page was a small white envelope; the letter she was looking for. With shaking hands she removed the letter, unfolded it and began to read:

_My dearest Granddaughter,_

_I assume that now you are able to read this letter you are all grown up, and have undoubtedly grown into a beautiful young girl. _

_I don't know how much you will remember of me and all the things we used to talk about, but I'm sure you will not have forgotten who you are._

_I wish I could be there when you receive your letter from Hogwarts, I would be so proud of you. I hope that you will be as happy there as I was._

_Do you remember the street in London I told you about? It's Called Diagon Alley. There is an inn called the Leaky Cauldron, if you go there you can get to Diagon Alley, and you can buy all the things you need to start school. I have left you some money in Gringotts bank, you can't use muggle money, the key is in the envelope._

_I hope with all my heart this letter finds you well, and I wish you every success in all you do. You are a strong and intelligent young witch and I have every faith that you will fit in well in the wizarding world. I hope growing up in the muggle world hasn't been too hard for you._

_Look after your brother and tell him everything I have told you. _

_I love you so much my sweet Frances,_

_Grandad Aderyn._

Frances fought hard to stop the tears spilling onto her cheeks as she read the letter. When she got to the end she turned it over and found the address of a London street on the back. She also found the thick silver key that was lying at the bottom of the envelope. After putting the book on her bedside table she put the other things back in the box, closed it and placed it back under her bed. Looking in the mirror she realised that her eyes were puffy and red, so she rubbed them with her sleeve, trying to hide the tears that had threatened to spill. With the letter clutched in her hand she made her way downstairs to show it to her father.


	2. Chapter 2, Diagon Alley

**AN: Chapter 2! I know I've only just started writing this but I'm having so much fun imagining what it would be like to be in the Harry Potter world. If you guys are reading it and enjoying it too then that's just an added bonus. Let me know if you love it or hate it.**

**Morgorah.**

**Disclaimer: The Burrows family belongs to me, everything else belongs to JKR.**

Chapter 2, Diagon Alley

Before entering the living room to show her father the letter from Aderyn, Frances checked her reflection in the hallway mirror one last time. Her bright blue eyes still glistened slightly and she sighed, rubbing them irritatedly, then braced herself and pushed the living room door open. As she had expected, Christopher asked her what was wrong the minute she walked in, and enquired as to where she had been. Seeking his comforting embrace she crawled into his lap and handed him the note she still held clutched in her hand.

"Sweetheart," he whispered after reading it, and gave her one of his special hugs he reserved only for her, then he reached up to stroke the side of her face and tuck a stray strand of auburn hair behind her ear. "I miss him too," he said. After they shared a quiet moment Christopher spoke again. His tone was light as he pushed aside the memories of his father. "On a brighter note, I assume the address on the back is where we need to go to get your school things." Cheering up at this Frances nodded enthusiastically.

"Can we go tomorrow?" she asked. Christopher looked over to his wife to see if that was OK and when she answered yes she was suddenly attacked by a very happy and very over excited daughter. "Are you coming too mum?" she asked.

Having only just learned of the wizarding world three hours earlier Mary felt like she wasn't quite ready to actually see it for herself yet. "I'm sorry sweetheart," she said. "Alfie's been invited to little Tommy's birthday party tomorrow, and we were going to go to the play park afterwards." She smiled fondly at her son, but before Frances could answer Alfie groaned and looked up from his puzzle.

"Can't I go with Frances?" he whined in the kind of voice only an 8 year old boy could pull off.

"Don't give your mother that nonsense now Alfie you've been looking forward to this party for weeks," Christopher said sternly to his son.

"I don't want to go to the stupid party, I want to go meet the magic people and buy a flying broom," he sobbed. Frances knelt down beside her brother and lifted his chin so that he was looking straight at her.

"Since when did you like going shopping so much?" she asked jokingly. Alfie didn't find it funny. "O.K, so you don't get to come with me tomorrow, but Alfie, you're still part of this world too. When you're old enough you'll get to go to Hogwarts and ride a broom, but do you really want to turn your back on your friends now?" He shook his head. "I didn't think so," she said. "I promise I'll bring you something back, and if mum says its o.k you can come see me off when I go to Hogwarts." At this he smiled.

"O.K then, I'll be good so that mum will let me go."

Mary and Christopher watched this exchange between brother and sister with pride. Their little girl really had grown up, not only had she been able to stop her brother from throwing a full blown tantrum, but she had managed to tell him off and promise to be good all in one go. And now she would be heading off in her own great adventure. Christopher had no doubt that she would do well in anything she set her mind too, but he would also miss her when she was gone. Where had the time gone? It seemed like only yesterday he had held his baby girl in his arms for the first time.

Pulling himself together he looked down at his two children on the floor. Both had identical looks of concentration on their faces as Frances had offered to help Alfie finish his puzzle before bed. Their father knew how close they were, but he never really understood what it was like to have a bond like that. Growing up it had just been himself and his father, his mother had left when she found out he was what she called a squib, but Aderyn had always been there for him. He had given up more than his son could possibly understand, and it was only after Frances was born, and he had seen how happy his father was to be able to talk about his past and not hide who he really was, that he realised just how much his father had loved him, to turn his back on everything he knew to take care of his only son. He smiled then, knowing that Frances and Alfie would make his father proud, then he yawned. Looking at the clock on top of the mantelpiece he realised that it was after 10 o'clock.

"Alright you two, it's well past your bed time," he said as he stood up and stretched, "and we all have a busy day tomorrow." Smiling he helped pull them to their feet and they gave him and their mother a goodnight hug before making their way upstairs. Before they went their separate ways Alfie pulled his sister into him and kissed her cheek.

"I'm so happy for you Frances," he said sincerely. Frances smiled and said thanks.

"I just hope I don't wake up tomorrow and find out it was just a dream," she said voicing her fears.

Frances woke up the next morning and turned over to check the clock on her bedside table; it was only 6 am. Thinking she might go back to sleep she made to roll over when something on the table caught her eye. It was the book she had found in Aderyn's box the night before, and on top of that, her Hogwarts acceptance letter. _It wasn't a dream_, she thought. Then she remembered where she was going today. No wonder she had woken up so early, she suddenly felt like a child on Christmas morning. There was absolutely no way she was going to get back to sleep now, but it was far to early to get up, so she picked up _Hogwarts A History _and started to read.

Two hours later Christopher came in to wake his daughter up, only to find her already awake and completely engrossed in the book she was reading. He sat on the edge of her bed and kissed her good morning, finally drawing her attention. "Oh dad," she exclaimed, "Hogwarts sounds like the most magical place on earth!"

"That's because it probably is," He chuckled. "Now come on, get dressed and come down for breakfast, we have a long day ahead of us." Frances didn't need telling twice, she jumped out of bed and bolted for the bathroom.

An hour later she was found sitting in her fathers car, beeping the horn impatiently. "Come on," she shouted when Christopher finally appeared in the doorway. After he had left her room that morning she had jumped in the shower, brushed her teeth and put on the first outfit she lay hands on. She had then run downstairs, gulped down her breakfast and after checking she had everything she needed run out to the car. Christopher couldn't remember ever seeing his daughter this excited. The long journey that followed had done nothing to calm her down either. She'd chatted excitedly the whole way about everything she had ever heard about the magical world. When they arrived at the address Aderyn had given them it was almost 2 O'clock.

They parked the car in a nearby car park and proceeded to the Leaky Cauldron on foot, peering into every shop window as they passed. Christopher was beginning to have doubts when they had nearly walked the length of the street and still hadn't found the little inn, but all of a sudden Frances stopped.

"This is it," she whispered, and took her fathers hand. She took a few cautious steps forward, pulling her father along with her, and when she finally made it to the front step she heard him gasp beside her. To Christopher, where before there had been nothing but a small side garden, there now stood a very old, rather odd looking building. They could hear the laughter and chatting coming from inside.

"How?" Christopher asked, trying to find the right words, and then he settled with "Where did it come from?"

"I think it was always here," Frances explained, "I could see it right away, but I think I had to show you it so that you could see it too." He nodded, but he didn't really understand, and he never would where magic was concerned, he'd just have to get used to it.

They walked inside and stopped for a moment to take in their surroundings; the interior matched the aged look the outside had suggested perfectly. There was about 15 other people inside, all wearing funny robes, some in groups all chatting excitedly together; others parent and child like themselves; and there was one or two elderly folk sitting by themselves. Behind the bar was an old man with a bald head who introduced himself as Tom. After asking him if he could show them how to get into Diagon Alley he led them through a door at the back of the room and into a small square courtyard. He then walked up to one of the walls, tapped some of the bricks with his wand and stood back. As they watched, the bricks he had touched began to move, then the others around it followed, until the wall wasn't a wall any more but an archway. Tom gestured for them to walk through and bid them a good day.

She knew it was probably very rude, but Frances couldn't help but just stand and stare with her mouth hanging slightly ajar when she appeared on the other side. She had dreamt of the "hidden street" her entire life, but now that she was actually here, it surpassed even her wildest dreams. It was a very long, winding, cobbled street, with lots of strange shops and delightful cafes, and absolutely full with people bustling about on their daily business. Adults, children, everyone seemed just as excited to be here as she was.

"Where to first then?" her father asked, breaking through her thoughts.

"Well, I'll need to go get some money first," she said.

"You don't need money, I'm buying your school things."

Frances laughed, "They use different money here dad remember, Grandad left me some in the bank."

So the pair made their way up the street, both fascinated with every single thing that met their eyes. People carrying owls in cages, shops with broomsticks in the windows (although there were so many children crowded around that particular shop they only caught a glimpse of the brooms,) and some people had all the things they had bought so far floating behind them in some sort of bubble. By the time they made it all the way to the end, where the massive bank stood, Frances was grinning from ear to ear.

Her smile faded though, when they walked through the huge double doors and were faced with a room full of ugly looking tiny people (if you could even call them people) and she decided that they looked rather unpleasant. She realised of course that if she was going to get her money she'd have to speak to one of them, and the witches and wizards didn't look like they were afraid of them, so she took her father's hand again and walked to the nearest free counter. The creature glared down at her.

"I'd like to take some money from my account," she said, trying to sound more confident than she felt.

"Do you have a key?" the creature asked.

Frances handed him the small silver key, and after inspecting it for a few moments he hopped down from his stool and gestured for them to follow. They followed him through two sets of doors and down a long corridor where they stopped in front of what Frances could only describe as a mine cart ride. Once they were all seated the cart took off slowly, then began to pick up speed. Moments later they were all suddenly flung to the side as the cart turned a sharp corner and then plummeted downwards, coming to an abrupt stop to the sound of screeching breaks.

It was obvious they were underground; the air was cool, yet muggy at the same time, and all around the expansive space the walls were cut out of rough stone. The creature picked up his lantern and hopped out of the cart, announcing that they were at vault 412. He then took out the silver key to open it, and when Frances stepped inside she really wasn't sure what to expect, but she was pleasantly surprised when she looked to the back of the small room to find five shelves full of shining gold coins. She wasn't entirely sure how much it was worth compared to pounds, but guessed it would be more than enough to see both herself and Alfie through the 7 years of Hogwarts at the very least. She took out a small linen bag and filled it with coins, hoping it would be enough until she could come back.

10 minutes later she stood outside in the warm sun with her father by her side. The view was even more spectacular from this end, aided by their elevated position. Frances felt she could stand there forever, just watching the wizarding world go by. After Christopher gave her arm a firm shake she was brought round to her senses and grinned up at him.

"Let the shopping spree commence!" he exclaimed.

After checking the list, and scanning the street, Frances pointed to a small shop called Olivanders. It was a wand shop Christopher soon realised once they were inside. The shop was small, with a wooden staircase leading up to a second floor. The shelves were full with small rectangular boxes, and at the back of the shop behind a large counter stood and old man with shaggy grey hair.

"And who might you be?" he asked when Frances walked up to him.

"Frances Burrows, sir."

"Relation of Aderyn Burrows?"

"Yes sir, I'm his granddaughter," she said.

"Well then, it's a pleasure to meet you Miss Burrows. Starting Hogwarts I presume?" Frances nodded. "Let's find you a wand then."

After considering her for a moment Olivander climbed up the stairs. He came back down a moment later with one box, turned his back on her and bustled round a corner for another and when he finally returned to the counter there were three small boxes laid in front of him. He pointed at them with a bony finger and told Frances to try one. Slowly she lifted the lid off the first box. The wand inside was small, smooth and made of a dark wood. She picked it up and after a moment felt herself frowning.

"What's the matter?" Mr. Olivander asked.

"It's just that, when I held my grandfather's wand I felt this sort of energy," she explained, "With this, I don't feel anything."

"I see, well try the next one."

This wand was a lot longer than the first. It was slightly crooked at one end and the wood was rough. It was light in both colour and weight. When she held it, not only did Frances feel the energy, but there was an audible buzz emanating from the wand that even her father and Mr. Olivander could hear. "I think you've found your wand Miss Burrows," he said smiling. "Laurel wood, dragon heartstring, 12 1/2 inches, slightly swishy. It is a powerful wand, for a strong headed witch, I hope you will be happy with it."

"Thank you so much Mr. Olivander," Frances said happily as she put the wand carefully back in it's box. After she had paid for it she thanked him again and left the shop with yet another grin on her face.

_It's official,_ she told herself as the made their way further down the street._ With my wand I am officially a witch._ They had only just begun their shopping spree but Frances was already so ecstatically happy she felt she could almost burst. Christopher then asked where she would like to go next and she responded by pointing to a small shop called Eeylops Owl Emporium. "It says we can take an owl, a cat or a toad. If I get an owl I'll be able to send you letters from school." she said.

"An owl it is then," said her father, and so they made their way through the crowds to the small shop.

The noise inside was intense, not to mention the smell. There were many owls of different shapes, colours and sizes in cages all around the walls. Some of them didn't look very friendly, and others were fast asleep, their tiny heads tucked neatly beneath their wings. A friendly couple who looked to be about in their 50s were chatting animatedly with a family who were apparently trying to exchange their current owl for a new one as it had a habit of flying off after delivering a letter, and not returning home for weeks. Deciding she should really stop eavesdropping and start looking at the owls Frances started peering into the different cages.

She wasn't too sure what to look for in a good owl. Friendly, of course, as it would hopefully be her companion for a very long time. Fit and healthy for long flights, and she didn't want a noisy one, Frances treasured her quiet time. She was having a hard time trying to find one that met all her criteria, so she sat down on a little stool to rest for a moment. Just as she was considering leaving the owl until later and getting the rest of her things first she felt soft feathers brush lightly against her ankle. When she looked down at the cage at her feet she saw two large yellow eyes looking straight back up at her. The eyes belonged to a fairly small grey owl, with incredibly silky soft feathers. When she bent down to say hello, the owl hooted quietly, then fluttered around her cage.

"Would you like to come home with me?" Frances whispered to the owl. The owl hooted again, and rubbed her head gently against the girls fingers. Grinning, she gestured to her father to come over. "I've found her dad, please can I have this one?"

"Of course you can have her sweetheart."

After Christopher had talked to the couple behind the counter the woman came over to Frances and unfastened the cage from the shelf. "Look after her," she said as she handed it over.

"I will." Frances promised.

Treats for her new best friend were bought along with other equipment for looking after the owl, and once the gold coins had been exchanged, Frances left the shop the proud owner of her first owl. Two hours later Frances and Christopher were sitting outside Florean Fortescues Ice Cream Parlour with a large bowl of chocolate and caramel ice cream each. Their feet were surrounded by large linen bags filled with all their purchases: her wand; books from Flourish and Blotts; robes from Madame Malkins; a cauldron; a telescope; scales; parchment, quills and sweeties. Sleeping quietly in her cage sat the small grey owl.

"What are you going to call her?" Christopher asked. Frances sat quietly for a moment, thinking of a good name for her new friend. Eventually she looked up at her father and smiled.

"Her name is Dallandra, Dalla for short. It's my favourite character from my favourite book," she explained. As if she completely understood what the two humans were discussing Dalla lifted her head from under her wing and hooted. Christopher chuckled.

"I think she likes it," he said.

One very long drive later (it hadn't been very long for Frances as she slept most of the way) the pair finally arrived home. They struggled up the 12 steps to the front door with all their bags and were greeted by a very excited Alfie. He squealed with delight when he saw Dalla in her cage.

"Well don't just stand there, take some bags into the house for your sister." Christopher admonished.

Frances spent the next hour performing a show and tell for her family, explaining what everything was and how they had got it, she didn't miss out a single detail. When she had finished, Alfie noticed there was still one more bag left unopened.

"What's in that bag?" he asked. Frances grinned and handed it to her brother. "You bought me something?" he asked excitedly.

"I said I would didn't I?

Alfie reached inside and pulled out a book called _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them._

"Thank You!" he exclaimed as he flung his arms around his sister. "This will be much more exciting than _Common British Wildlife._" Frances knew that her brother had always had a fascination with animals, and he seemed to be able to almost communicate with them somehow.

"You're welcome. There's more in the bag," she said pointing.

Alfie reached inside again and pulled out a box of multicoloured jelly beans. When he looked at her questioningly she told him that a boy in the shop said that they come in every flavour you could imagine, good and bad. He opened the lid and dropped four onto his hand, holding it out to each of his family. Frances ate hers first and to her delight it was the flavour of candy floss. Mary was next, she got tomato, which was the one thing she disliked more than anything else (she spat it out discreetly into a tissue when no one was looking.) Christopher got cherry and Alfie got sausage. After taking a drink to get rid of the taste, Alfie put his hand back in the bag and pulled out a pentagon shaped box. When he took the lid off this one a small brown frog leaped out and landed on his lap.

"A pet frog?" he asked, a little confused. Frances chuckled.

"No it's made of chocolate, your supposed to eat it," she explained.

"I can't eat it, it's a live animal!"

"It's not alive, it's just charmed to act like a real frog."

"I'm still not eating him." Alfie said, scooping up the frog and stoking its chocolatey head. When he picked up the box he noticed a card inside. "What's that?" he asked.

"Oh the lady in the shop said you get one in every box, it has a famous witch or wizard on it, and you collect them. Who did you get?"

Alfie pulled the card out and turned it over, then shouted out in surprise.

"What is it?" Frances asked.

Alfie read aloud what was written on the card: "Aderyn Burrows. Born December 15th 1885. Died June 20th 1985. Famous for his love of magical creatures, Aderyn was the first and only human to ever tame and ride a Scottish Kelpie."

Frances stared at her brother, her mouth hanging open. He had never told her that. Sure she knew he was a wizard but a famous one? She asked to see the card and as soon as she was looking into the sharp blue eyes of the man she had adored as a child, the tears pooled in her eyes and started to run down her cheeks. He was smiling up at her and waving in the picture, his grey hair as messy as it had been in real life, seeming to have a life of its own. Frances swore then that no matter what happened, she was going to make her grandfather proud.


	3. Chapter 3, The Journey Begins

**AN: Yay, we're off to Hogwarts! I'm so excited. Again if there is anything you love or hate in particular please let me know. Also I had my own idea of what the Hufflepuff common room would look like so I took what JKR wrote on Pottermore and added a few personal touches. **

**Morgorah**

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JKR except the Burrows family.**

Chapter 3, The Journey Begins

The summer holidays that year had been the best Frances had ever had. Not only had she been extremely excited about starting Hogwarts, but her family had gone on a fantastic holiday to a theme park in Spain, and then spent another week staying with relatives. Frances' cousin Annie was two years younger than her and they'd had a lot of fun together. Of course Dalla had been left behind, but other than missing her new companion a great time was had.

The three months flew in, and before she knew it there was only one week left until the 1st of September. This last week had been spent sunbathing in the back garden, (it was an unnaturally hot British summer) and reading through her school books at random. Her favourite was Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century. There was so much she didn't know about this new world and she wanted to learn it all. She'd read a lot about the first wizarding war in which a dark lord named Voldemort terrorised magic folk and muggle alike, leaving death and destruction in his wake. He had been defeated, or at least he had disappeared, when he had tried to kill a baby boy named Harry Potter. She realised the boy would be about the same age as her and she'd wondered if he would be at Hogwarts.

On the 31st August the Burrows family travelled down to London. They had booked a room at the Leaky Cauldron, figuring Dalla wouldn't be welcome at a muggle hotel. Mary had been even more shocked than her husband when the inn magically appeared before her, and Alfie's grin had been so wide when he realised he could see the magical building without being shown it first that Frances was scared his jaw would crack. "I really do have magic don't I Frances?" He'd asked his sister who had just grinned back at him in reply.

When they'd entered the noisy inn they had been overwhelmed by how busy it was. Obviously a lot of people had had the same idea as them. Tom had shown them to their room and they'd left the luggage there, then Frances took her family to the little courtyard at the back of the building. Two teenage boys with identical flame red hair were there already, looking very much like they were up to no good. They had just opened the archway, so Frances had grabbed her brother's hand and motioned for her mum and dad to follow before it could close, emerging on the other side looking out upon Diagon Alley. It was even busier than before, packed with school children all ready to set off to Hogwarts. Alfie had been uncharacteristically silent, gaping at the scene before him in much the same way his sister had only months before.

Frances took her family to all of her favourite shops. They'd spent a considerable amount of time in Floutish and Blotts and Obscurus Books, and Alfie had almost passed out with excitement looking at the brooms in Quality Quidditch Supplies. The adults allowed the children to have one treat each from the sweet shop, Alfie choosing a chocolate frog, for the card, not the chocolate, and Frances a sugar coated mouse. Dinner was had at one of the few empty tables inside the Leaky Cauldron, during which the family had to practically shout at each other to hold a conversation, and after a long day of excitement the family had finally retired to their room, and it wasn't long before sleep overtook the two little Burrows.

The morning after Frances was wide awake before anyone else, reading again to pass the time. When Christopher's alarm went off, the rest of the family got up and they headed downstairs for breakfast together. It was still very early as he'd had the foresight to realise that when the time came to head to Kings Cross Station there would be a mass exodus from the little inn, so he had his family washed, dressed, fed and in the car by 9.30.

It was just a short journey from the Leaky Cauldron to Kings Cross Station. Christopher parked his car in the car park and found a trolley for his daughter to put all her things on, then the family of four had made their way through the crowds towards platform 9. Now that she was finally here the young witch stopped to look around, but she found herself frowning.

"I don't see a red steam engine anywhere, and where are the other witches and wizards?" She asked, getting more and more frustrated after she had walked the length of the platform and still there was no train to be found. Not knowing what else to do she pulled out her ticket to check that they had the right platform and felt completely foolish when she realised that she had indeed got it wrong, it wasn't platform 9, it was platform 9 3/4.

Looking around she tried to find a sign or something to indicate how to get to the platform, but she found nothing. A lump was forming in her throat as she felt herself get upset. She didn't want her family to see her disappointment, so she just stood there, staring at the wall between platforms 9 and 10.

"Are you going through?" a voice came from behind her. She whipped round to find a woman and her young son, probably the same age as her, looking expectantly at her.

"I, I don't know how," she said quietly, her head bowed. The woman's expression softened immediately into a soft smile.

"Oh well in that case just watch what Shaemus and I do, it's really not that difficult, you just have to run straight into the wall, and don't worry, you won't get hurt."

The woman and her son did exactly as she said and ran straight into the brick wall, vanishing at the point where there should have been a collision. Frances gasped in surprise, she was really going to have to get used to things like that.

It was now her turn to disappear through the wall, leaving her family behind and entering a world she had spent a lifetime dreaming of. Very much aware that Diagon Alley had only been a small taste of the wonders to be seen, and what lay beyond this wall was much much more; the magnificent train that would take her to the enchanted castle, with the forest and the lake and the mountains, it was all she could do to not squeal in delight as she thought about it, but when she looked at her parents standing together behind her the smile vanished.

Frances walked over to them and was immediately enveloped in her father's loving embrace. For a moment she felt like she might indeed cry, but her father lifted her chin and looked deep into her eyes.

"Don't even think about crying sweetheart, this is a happy moment, you are going to have such a wonderful time at Hogwarts, and before you know it, it will be Christmas and you'll be home again for the holidays." He smiled at his daughter with such warmth that she couldn't help but smile back, unable to find the words to say so she nodded instead.

She then looked over to her mother. The small woman looked like she was trying to put on a brave face but Frances could tell it wasn't working. Her only daughter was leaving, and there was nothing she could do to stop her, not that she would ever stop her baby girl from having anything that would make her happy.

"I'll miss you." Mary said while planting a small kiss on her daughter's forehead.

"I'll miss you too, but I promise I'll send Dalla with a letter every day. Well, maybe not everyday, but once a week for sure." Mary laughed at her daughters honest statement and with it the mood was lifted considerably.

Before releasing her though she bent down and whispered into her ear "Be safe."

When she looked at her brother, Alfie was staring at his feet, absently kicking a stone around. She walked up to him and smiled, placing her hands on his shoulders. "I think I'll miss you the most," she told him. When He looked up at her with his wide childlike eyes, she pulled him into a tight hug. A small smile to her three family members told them that she was ready. Frances went over to her trolley, turned it around so that it was facing the wall, and with one last glance back she closed her eyes and ran straight through the wall.

When she opened her eyes Frances found the great red steam engine standing proudly before her, just as glorious as Aderyn had said it would be. Quite a few students were already on the platform, obviously having opted for the better to be early than late motto too. Taking a deep breath Frances moved towards the train, weaving her way through the students giving their farewells as she had done only moments ago. She found a fairly empty spot halfway down the platform and stopped to unload her things. She carried Dalla onto the train first, finding an empty compartment, then came back to get her trunk.

When Frances sat down in her empty compartment she pulled Dalls's cage next to her, and poked her fingers through the bars to stroke her gently. "This is it Dalla," she said fondly to the owl. She then pulled one of her books out of her trunk and as always was immediately engrossed, so much so that she jumped with a start when the train began to move. Looking out of the window she could see everyone on the platform waving goodbye to their loved ones, then the station vanished and they were off!

The first two hours passed uneventfully, and at around 1 o'clock Frances decided she was hungry. Her mother had packed some lunch for her so she scrambled around in her trunk and pulled out the small box with sandwiches crisps and fruit inside. There was however nothing to drink. She remembered that a lady had come by earlier with a trolley full of sweets and drink so she got out her small bag of money and left Dalla to go find the lady. She found her halfway along the train, serving a group of gossiping teenage girls. "Is it true?" one of them was asking.

"Yeah, Katie saw him on the platform," the other said.

"I won't believe that Harry Potter is on the train until I see him for myself," the last girl stated before walking off, her friends following. Frances bought her drink from the lady and took it back to her compartment, glancing into each compartment as she passed, just in case she did catch a glimpse of the boy she had read about in her book.

After lunch Frances decided to take a nap, hoping that when she woke they would almost be at Hogwarts. It seemed her eyes had only been closed a few moments when she heard a knock at her compartment door. Cracking her eyes open she could just make out the figure of a young girl, so she got up to let her in. The girl was small and frumpy with a mess of bushy brown hair and slightly large front teeth. "Have you seen a toad?" the girl asked. Frances looked a little confused at the question.

"Er, no." she replied, "Have you lost one?"

"No, a boy named Neville has," the girl said, looking slightly exasperated.

After a moments thought Frances said "Would you like me to help you look for it?" The other girl looked surprised.

"You know your'e the first person to ask me that," she said. Frances blushed then stood up.

"I'll go one way, you go the other?" Just as they were about to go their separate ways the girl stopped and turned round.

"My name's Hermione by the way."

"Frances." They exchanged a smile and then parted.

After an hour of asking random students and checking in small spaces Frances concluded that the toad was no where to be found. Outside, the sky was turning dark, and she guessed that they would be arriving soon, so she made her way back to her compartment to change into her robes. Dalla was fast asleep in her cage.

It felt weird wearing her robes for the first time, a good weird that is. They were extremely comfy and airy, much better than wearing jeans she thought, although it wasn't just the comfort that made her feel different. She caught her reflection in the darkened window and gasped. Smiling to herself she pulled her wand out of her pocket and pointed it at her mirror image, mentally flicking through the different spells she had read about. She didn't think anything would happen, she just wanted to pretend, so she concentrated on the tip of her wand and whispered "lumos." To her great surprise a tiny white light started to glow and then vanished again when she stumbled back. _I just did magic! _She thought.

When Frances stepped off the train she was overwhelmed by the amount of people crowded on the platform. Most of the students headed off in the same general direction, but a small group were cautiously looking around them, unsure where to go. Before she could think any more about it a loud voice came from the end of the platform. "First years over here, first years this way!" It bellowed. Frances looked round in the direction it had come from and almost screamed when her eyes met a massive hairy man holding up a lantern, and beside him, a great big dog. He was waving at the group of first years, beckoning them to follow.

She made her way over and waited for the rest of her classmates to arrive. When it appeared that everyone was present the giant man led them to the end of the platform. He disappeared down a flight of stairs that led to the edge of the lake, where a number of small boats sat waiting, bobbing up and down on the water. After helping each of the children into the boats the giant man sat down in the last one with his large companion and they began to move.

At first Frances couldn't see much through the darkness, just the students whose boats where immediately to her right and to her left. After a short while a faint glow appeared up ahead, and as they neared everyone realised it was the lights of the castle. Frances kept her eyes locked in front of her, they grew wider and wider as the details of the magnificent castle became clearer. It was beyond anything she had ever imagined, and she felt with a deep certainty that this was a moment she would remember forever.

As she was unable to take her eyes of the magnificent sight before her, Frances was surprised when someone tapped her on the shoulder and told her that the boats had stopped moving. Sure enough when she looked around the other children were clambering out of their boats and following the giant man out of the boat house. Every one of the children looked up at the castle with awe as it loomed above them. Nearing the entrance they could hear the laughter and chatter flowing out from inside.

Walking into the entrance hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was the second moment that day that Frances felt she would hold onto and cherish for the rest of her life. Even though the space was vast, and the walls echoed with the murmurs and chatter of her fellow classmates, she couldn't help the discernible feeling that she was at home. At the top of the stairs stood an elderly witch in tartan robes. She had a stern face and her hair was pulled back, hidden under her large green pointy hat. She introduced herself as Professor McGonagall.

So now Frances stood at the front of the great hall with the other first years feeling very much exposed as all eyes seemed to be on them. Her eyed wandered around the room, taking in as much as she could. The ceiling looked like it wasn't a ceiling at all, she could see the clouds floating in the night sky, and stars shining through the gaps between them. Below the stars floated thousands of glittering candles. Most of the hall was taken up with four long tables that spanned the length of the entire hall, the rest of the students were sat at these tables, all eyes to the front. The teachers all sat at another table that was directly behind where the first years were gathered. Their table was raised on a Dias, probably so they could watch everything going on. In front of the Dias stood a small wooden stool, and on top of it, a mangy old hat.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat to gain everyone's attention. Once she had it she announced the sorting. Everyone looked expectantly at the hat on the stool and much to Frances' surprise a mouth appeared at the rim of the hat and it began to sing. It sang a song about the different houses of Hogwarts; Gryfindor for the brave, Ravenclaw for the smart, Hufflepuff for the kind and Slutherin for the cunning. When the song was done McGonagall started calling out the students one by one, and they each in turn sat on the stool and had the hat placed on their heads. After a pause, sometimes long, sometimes short, the hat would shout out one of the four houses and the student would go and join the table to witch the house belonged.

"Burrows, Frances" McGonagall called.

Frances nervously made her way to the small stool and the hat was placed on her head. She jumped when she heard a voice. "Ah," it said, "A Burrows. You come from a long line of Hufflepuffs you know, it seems the most obvious choice to put you where you belong don't you think?"

"Er, yes." she mumbled.

"Excellent," the hat said before shouting "Hufflepuff!" for everyone to hear. Frances made her way to the table that was cheering and clapping the loudest and sat down.

Most people's attention wandered as the sorting went on, there were a lot of students to go through and Frances had been one of the first. The chatter was drowning out her thoughts when all of a sudden the room went deadly quiet. She hadn't heard who's name had been called but when she looked up at the stool she saw a scrawny little boy with messy black hair and glasses. There were whispers of the name Harry Potter and Frances couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that this scared looking little boy was apparently "the boy who lived." Her opinion changed however when after quite some time the hat shout Gryfindor and the little boy's eyes shone with something she couldn't quite place. Maybe she was wrong about him, she'd have to wait and see.

Finally the sorting was over and all the new students had a new home. The hall was filled with general chatter as everyone introduced themselves but quieted shortly after as an old wizard with extremely long grey hair and an equally long grey beard stood up. He didn't need to tell anyone to be quiet, his very presence radiated from where he stood as everyone turned towards him. He smiled at the hall in general, a warm smile that spoke of kindness and love. Frances had an unexplainable feeling that no matter what happened, if she was near this man, she would feel safe.

The wizard introduced himself as Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster of the school. He welcomed everyone, old and new, and gave a few rules; not to go into the forest or to the third floor corridor. He then declared that the feast begin. As soon as he had said the words the tables were suddenly filled with food of many, many different kinds. Plates and cutlery appeared, and small golden goblets that were filled with the same drink she had earlier on the train. Everyone tucked in to the feast, chatting merrily and it seemed that not a single person there had a care in the world.

After pudding Frances felt very satisfied and very sleepy, as did most people by the looks on their faces. Dumbledore stood up once more and said it was time for bed. She just managed to register him saying that the first years were to follow their prefect, whatever that was, she was too tired now. Everyone stood up and shuffled out of the great hall, staying close to their new house mates. Frances found herself being led out of the hall and down a corridor. At the end of the corridor was a flight of stairs leading down to another corridor.

All along the walls were portraits and paintings that to her amazement seemed like they were alive, waving to the students as they passed. Some of the inhabitants of the portraits were chatting to each other, moving into each others frames. There was a bowl of fruit, conspicuously still, and a meadow full of dancing women clad in green tunics. The prefect stopped when he came to a pile of barrels. He pulled out his wand and turned towards the first years. "There's no password to get in," he shouted over the chatter, "you just have to tap this barrel with your wand in the rhythm of 'Helga Hufflepuff'" He did just that and the barrel opened to reveal a small upwards sloping tunnel.

Frances followed everyone inside and felt a smile break her tired face as she took in her surroundings. It was the most homely place she had ever seen. The walls were painted in warm shades of yellow and had a large portrait of Helga Hufflepuff holding a small golden cup. There were many soft sofas and squishy beanbags surrounding the scattered tables and desks made out of a fitting honey coloured wood. Bookcases lined the walls and between the windows sat different plants. She walked over to the small round window to look out and found her vision filled with green and yellow, the grassy grounds covered in daffodils, softly bending in the breeze.

The male and female first years were then split up and led to their separate dormitories. Frances found herself standing in front of a small round door, not unlike the door of a hobbit hole she thought. Once through this door they were led down a corridor with many windows, each one housing a small plant, and they finally stopped in front of another round door to the side. "This ones yours," the prefect said. She stepped aside, letting the four girls into their new room.

It was a small round room, the same yellow colours on the curtains of the windows and their four poster beds. Beside each window hung a bedpan that could be used to heat up their already cosy looking beds. In the centre of the room, set into the floor, was a small round hearth. Their trunks sat at the bottom of their beds, indicating who's was who's. Frances walked over to her own bed and sat down, smiling through her tiredness. "Oh I love it," one of the girls suddenly cried. "I wouldn't care if I had to stay in this room the whole seven years it's perfect." When she noticed the other three girls smiling at her and nodding in agreement she introduced herself. "I'm Cassandra, Cassandra White," she said.

The others introduced themselves too. The girl with the long red hair was Susan Bones, she looked quite similar to Frances, just chubbier and without freckles. The blonde girl was Hannah Abbott. As the girls changed into pyjamas and got ready for bed they chatted about their families, about the classes that would start the next day and what their teachers would be like. By the time they were all fast asleep Frances thought that it was very likely that they would become fast friends.


	4. Chapter 4, Hogwarts

**AN: Next chapter, yay! I hope the characters aren't too different from the books, I tried to write them as close to cannon as possible Anyway, enjoy, and if you do, it would be good if you could let me know :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognise from JKR's wonderful work.**

Chapter 4, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Frances awoke to the sound of laughter, and it took her a moment to remember where she was and who the laughter belonged to. When she opened her eyes it was to find her new friend Cassandra bent over her trunk and trying to find her school uniform. Her long silky black hair hung loose, cascading down her back and over her shoulders. The laughter belonged to her other two room mates; Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones.

"Morning" they chorused together when they noticed she was awake. Frances smiled at them sleepily before heading to the bathroom to get ready. When she returned she found Cassandra sprawled on her bed studying a star chart.

"The others have already gone down to breakfast," she explained, "but I thought I'd wait for you, don't want you to get lost on your first day." Her smile was brilliant, both cheeky and sweet at the same time.

"Thanks." Frances said, returning the smile.

Once dressed the two girls headed out to the common room and up to the Great Hall, chatting and getting to know one another as they walked. Cassandra told Frances about the telescope she had been given as a fifth birthday present, and how she had been fascinated in astronomy ever since. Every morning she would consult her star chart and try to read how the day ahead would fare. She couldn't wait to start proper astronomy classes. As they neared the Great Hall they could hear the chatter of their fellow students all enjoying breakfast, and when they reached the huge doors they walked in and were instantly taken by the infectious excitement. Rushing over to join their friends at the Hufflepuff table they took their seats next to their room mates who were deep in conversation about classes. As she enjoyed her toast and bacon Frances noticed one of the professors making her way up the table with a pile of parchment in her arms.

"What's your name dearie?" the stout looking woman asked. Frances gave her name and the professor handed her a leaf of parchment. It was her class timetable, 7 classes, 3 hours a week each, with the exception of Herbology which was 4 hours and Astronomy which took place at midnight on Thursdays. Her first class was double potions.

"Ooh tough luck, Snape first." One of the older students said, looking over her shoulder.

" Is that bad?" Frances asked.

"Terrible, Snape despises everyone who isn't a Slytherin."

_Great, _she thought. _ I don't know the first thing about potion making and I have a teacher who hates everyone._

At 9.45 the Hufflepuff prefect led the first years down to the dungeons. Frances decided almost immediately that she did not like it down there. It was cold and dark, and their footsteps echoed off the walls. The classroom was much the same as there were no windows, therefore no light. She took her seat next to Cassandra at the back of the room and looked to the front where a tall greasy haired man with a squint nose stood glaring at them. He was almost hard to see as he was dressed entirely in black and almost blended into the walls. One by one, as the students noticed Professor Snape waiting at the front, the room quieted down. Frances thought that he had a calmness about him that was unnerving, the very fact that he could make everyone stop talking without saying a word spoke volumes.

"Now that you have all remembered you are hear to learn, not to chat, I shall begin my lesson." Professor Snape's voice was low and almost monotonous, sounding as though he was thoroughly bored with his lesson already. For the next hour he explained to his class what they were expected to achieve by the end of the year, adding in a snide remark about how only half the class would actually achieve anything at all. When he was done he asked them to read the first chapter of their books and as they were reading he wrote instructions on the black board with a flick of his wand: **Explain in 500 words the five most important uses of magical potions, including their importance and benefits to us as witches and wizards**. Before they left the class he asked for the assignment to be handed in next Monday.

The first year Hufflepuffs were left feeling somewhat subdued as they followed the prefect out of the dungeons and back upstairs for lunch, but the sound of laughter and smell of food soon cheered them up.

"I know we've only had one class," Cassandra was saying, "but it's safe to say potions is not my favourite." The others heartily agreed.

With a full meal in their stomachs however, the girls started to feel optimistic about their next class. Anything would be fun compared to potions with Snape they thought. For most of them, they could not have been more wrong with that statement.

History of Magic was their next lesson, with Professor Binns. The students were completely shocked when they found out that their teacher was actually a ghost. They had been introduced to the Fat Friar the night before of course, and had seen a few other shimmering white beings floating around the castle, but they hadn't expected one of them to be a teacher. If they thought Snape had sounded monotonous, the ghost was something else entirely. Frances wasn't even sure if he realised he was talking at all, but the more she listened the more she began to feel enchanted by his words. She had practically been obsessed with the history of the magical world since receiving her letter, and it felt like the ghost was reading one of her books to her. It soothed and relaxed her. When the class ended and everyone was packing up their things she glanced around the room and noticed that most of her classmates looked as though they had been asleep.

"I bet you anything he bored himself to death in one of his own lessons." Cassandra joked with a snort, but Frances disagreed.

"I found it fascinating." she said. Hannah and Susan both looked at her with surprise but they said nothing more as they made their way to the last class of the day; Charms.

"This one will definitely be fun!" Hannah exclaimed almost a little too enthusiastically. This time she was right.

* * *

The first week flew by, and Frances thoroughly enjoyed all of her classes with the exception of course being potions. History of Magic was her favourite, she couldn't wait to learn all about the founders of Hogwarts and how magic had developed in the thousand years since their time. Cassandra had been almost unbearable to be with as they made their way up to the Astronomy tower on Thursday night. She was the first to answer every question that was asked and presented her home made star chart when it was set as this weeks homework. Each evening Frances would settle down on one of the beanbags or sofas and complete one of her homework tasks, and Cassandra would sit opposite her, trying to convince her to play exploding snap instead.

When she awoke Saturday morning immediately turning on what she called "weekend mode" her friends, who by now thought they had a pretty good idea of what each other were like, were shocked when she came out of the bathroom and crawled straight back into bed. After the first morning Frances had been the first awake, the first dressed and the first to go out to the common room. They would usually find her completely engrossed in one of her books and have to drag her out of her seat and up to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"What?" she asked when she realised they were watching her.

"Aren't you going out to the common room to read?" Susan asked, sounding amused.

"No I'm going back to sleep, it's only 9am."

"But you've usually been awake for at least 2 hours by now." Hannah added.

Frances shrugged. "It's Saturday" she said as an explanation, then she rolled over and closed her eyes.

She awoke 3 hours later and found her 3 room-mates huddled together on Cassandra's bed whispering to one another, still dressed in their pyjamas. They noticed she was awake so they motioned for her to join them and even though she was awake now they continued to talk in whispers, talking of nothing in particular, just getting to know one another. To Frances it felt like the best feeling in the world, for the first time in her life, she had friends.

After breakfast, or lunch rather, the four settled down on comfy beanbags by one of the small windows and Cassandra finally got her wish. They spent hours challenging each other to the magical card game exploding snap, whilst the other Hufflepuffs had similar ideas. A group of sixth years were listening to the wizard wireless, and a rather creative group of fourth years had made their own board game set on a map of Hogwarts. It seemed the goal was to manoeuvre your figurine to the dungeons and steal from Snape's store without being caught. All in all it seemed everyone had switched on "weekend mode."

After dinner the common room was practically in silence as most of the students tried to finish their homework for the week. Frances had left her history essay until the end knowing she would enjoy it the most. The task was to pick one person mentioned in the first chapter of A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot and write a paragraph on why you chose them, pretty simple as it was the first week. When she had finished she snuggled into her beanbag and sat quietly, enjoying the cosy atmosphere of the common room. _One Week _she thought. She'd only been here one week and already it felt like home. After a while she grew sleepy so she said goodnight to her friends and headed off to bed, looking forward to another relaxing day tomorrow. Perhaps she would write a letter to send home.

* * *

Frances tore down the steps, out the front door, and ran full speed all the way down to the greenhouses, her long hair tangling itself in the wind. She had only nipped up to the library during lunch to borrow a book on common garden plants, common to the wizarding world that is, as Herbology was one of the subjects she was struggling with. She had only intended to browse through it for a little while but somehow she'd lost track of time. When she looked at her watch and noticed class had started 10 minutes ago she had panicked and ran out of the room, the book still clutched in her hand. When she burst into greenhouse one Professor Sprout did not seem pleased.

"5 points from Hufflepuff Miss Burrows, and you'll have to work by yourself I'm afraid, the rest of the class have already started."

Feeling dejected she found an empty worktable at the back and stared at the plant on her desk, she didn't have the faintest idea what to do with it. It was safe to say she felt as rotten as the plant in front of her.

"You can work with us if you like." It was the red haired boy Harry Potter always hung about with. Words could not describe how grateful she felt.

She worked with Ron and Harry on the day's task and she found that she liked them a lot. They were funny and kind, and new as much about Herbology as she did, that is to say, very little. She found them so easy to talk to and she could just tell that she could rely on their help again if she needed it. They probably wouldn't hang around much outside their shared Herbology class, being in different houses, but it was enough to stop her dreading the class so much. At the end of the lesson they said goodbye to each other and Frances rejoined Cassandra and the other Hufflepuffs to head back to their common room, feeling a whole lot lighter than she had two hours earlier.

* * *

"Come on, just this once forget about your stupid Defence homework and relax, it's Halloween for goodness sake. We'll be going up for the feast in an hour, let's play exploding snap." It took a bit more persuasion than that but eventually Frances gave in to Cassandra's pleas and put her homework aside to play with her friends. 50 minutes later she was rubbing her hands as they made their way to the feast, she had lost every game, but it had been fun never the less.

The Great Hall looked amazing, all done up with pumpkins and life like bats for the celebrations. Frances hadn't seen it this busy since the opening feast, every student in the school seemed to be there, and most of the teachers too. Sitting between Cassandra and Susan they chatted away happily to each other as they tucked into the delicious food.

"My brother would absolutely love this," she told them. "The slightest mention of food in our house and he drops whatever he's doing and is there in a second." The girls laughed and she went on to tell them more about Alfie. She missed him a lot, but she knew it wouldn't be long until she would be going home for the Christmas holidays.

The evening wore on and it seemed that everyone was thoroughly enjoying themselves. There was loud laughter coming from the Gryffindor table, especially near to where the Weasley twins were sitting, and the Ravenclaw's were all chatting excitedly amongst themselves. Frances even thought she saw a few Slytherin's crack a smile. When the food disappeared from the tables everyone complained but were cheering again a few seconds later when it was replaced with pudding. It felt so good to forget about classes and homework for a while and just enjoy each other's company.

The doors flew open and everyone turned in their seats to watch ad Professor Quirell ran up the hall. "Troll in the dungeon!" he was shouting, "There's a troll in the dungeon! Thought you aught to know," and with that he fainted. The moment he fell the entire room erupted in panic as students and teachers alike registered what he'd said. Cassandra was pulling frantically on Frances' sleeve.

"What!?" she snapped, but before she could get an answer the headmaster had stood up.

"Silence!" he bellowed. The room fell silent. "The prefects are to lead the rest of the students back to their dormitories in an orderly fashion. Once the hall is clear could the staff please follow me down to the dungeons. Off you go now."

When Dumbledore stopped speaking it only took a matter of seconds before the noise erupted once again. Everyone started clambering out of their seats, pushing and shoving one another trying to make their way out of the hall as quickly as possible. Susan and Hannah had already gone, and Cassandra was still pulling on Frances' sleeve. "Come on," she was saying. It was then that Frances realised that she had been frozen still from the moment Quirell had burst through the doors. Gathering her senses together she let her friend pull her from her seat and followed the crowds out into the hallway.

It was impossibly noisier and more chaotic out here as the students tried to squeeze past each other all trying to move in different directions. The Gryfindors and Ravenclaws were trying to get to the stairs and managed to sweep a few Hufflepuffs along with them, and the Slytherins had to walk through the lot of them to get down to the dungeons. It only finally grew quieter once they were safe inside the long corridor that led down to the kitchens and the Hufflepuff common room.

"Quiet!" The prefect shouted once they were all inside. "Everyone just sit down and stop panicking. Professor Sprout will come down and tell us what's going on as soon as she can. Until then just stay calm." Thankfully, most people did as they were told.

The girls sat in silence in their usual spot by the window, and after a while Cassandra finally spoke.

"Trolls are really dumb aren't they?" she asked.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Frances replied.

"Well I was just thinking, it's highly unlikely that a troll would just wander into Hogwarts isn't it?"

"Are you saying someone let it in?" Hannah asked catching on.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. It was found in the dungeon's wasn't it? I bet you anything a Slytherin let it in as a Halloween prank."

"I don't know Cas," Frances said thoughtfully. "Where would a student get a troll from, and when would they have done it, we've had classes all week, and everyone was at the feast."

"If it wasn't a student then it would have to have been a teacher." Susan reasoned.

No one knew what to say to that. They trusted the teachers, what kind of place would this be if they didn't. But then again everyone already suspected they were hiding something from them. They had been told on the very first night that if they entered the third floor corridor they would die a painful death. Later that night as Frances lay in bed she wondered if the incident with the troll and the forbidden corridor were related.

When she awoke the next morning, or afternoon as it was Saturday, Frances was alone. She found her friends out in the common room in their usual seats by the small window.

"Any news on the troll?" she asked sleepily.

"No real news from the teachers," Susan began.

"But?" Frances could always tell when Susan had something else to say.

"But there were rumours at breakfast that three of the students killed it." she finished hurriedly.

Frances gaped at her, ready to ask more questions but Cassandra cut in. "They didn't kill it Sue they just knocked it out."

"Who?" Frances asked.

"Harry Potter and his friend, oh and that Granger girl who answers all the questions in Herbology."

"Hermione?"

"Yeah."

"Wow." was all she could say. "But that's just a rumour right? No one actually saw them, and Dumbledore hasn't said anything."

"Don't be a spoil sport Frances." Cassandra quipped.

Frances didn't see Harry or Ron at all over the next week, so she had to wait until after lunch on Friday when they had their double Herbology class together to ask them about the troll. When she got there her usual seat next to the two boys was already taken, and the seat next to Cassandra, where Hermione usually sat, was empty. The boys still waved and said hello to her as she went past but she couldn't help but feel a little upset that she had been replaced. _They fought a troll together _ she told herself, _of course they're going to be friends now. _Trying to look indifferent she made her way over to Cassandra and didn't think any more on it as she was welcomed with a brilliant smile by her best friend.

"Cool, now we can be partners again," Cas said cheerfully.

Frances smiled, "I should warn you, I'm not very good at this class."

After the lesson everyone made their way back up to the castle. They had just entered the hallway when Frances felt someone tap her on the shoulder. It was Harry.

"I hope you're not upset about us working with Hermione." he said.

"No not at all, Cassandra's my friend, I'm more than happy to work with her."

Harry smiled. "Good. We're still friends though right? I mean if you ever wanna hang out with us or anything that would be cool."

Her smile grew into a grin. "Yeah I'd love to. By the way, is it true the three of you knocked out the troll?"

"Well Ron knocked it out actually. I'll tell you the whole story sometime." With that he waved goodbye and ran off to catch up with his friends.


	5. Chapter 5, Trouble

**AN: Hi guys, hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter it belongs to JKR**

Chapter 5, Trouble

When Frances had arrived at Kings Cross station for the Christmas holidays and crossed the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 she'd practically flung herself in her father's waiting arms, and to her absolute delight her mother and Alfie had made the journey down to London too. During the drive home she'd shared everything that had happened over the last 4 months, telling them all about her classes and her teachers; the common room and her friends. Alfie asked to hear about the troll incident at least twice, not that they didn't already know all of this from her letters. Later that night Alfie had kept his sister out of bed as he simply refused to go to sleep until she told him about her classes with Harry Potter for the god-knows-how-manyeth time.

"You're making such a big deal out of it," she told him as they sat huddled together on her bed. Frances had her slippered feet tucked beneath her and Alfie sat cross legged at her side. "He's just a regular kid like us, in fact he didn't even know about magic until he got his letter." This had the completely opposite effect on her brother than she'd intended.

"Wow, so he killed that guy when he was just a baby, and then he didn't even know he could do magic! wow," he said again. Frances rolled her eyes.

"Alright, enough chat, if you don't go to bed now I'm going to tell mum you stayed up." Alfie groaned, admitting defeat, but before he'd even left the bed his sister pulled him into a hug. "It's good to be home," she said into his hair. He hugged her back then slipped out of the room, tip toeing down the hallway so their parents couldn't hear.

On Christmas morning they awoke to a large bundle of presents under the tree, three of which had been delivered the night before by owl. After she opened the ones from her family Frances turned to the three clearly magically wrapped gifts (they were covered in extravagant wrapping paper with many bows and baubles and stars that actually sparkled.) The first was a deck of exploding snap cards that came with a small note that read _You need to practice, Cas x x _Frances found herself laughing.

The second gift was a book about Helga Hufflepuff from Susan. Alfie sat down beside her to see what she'd got as he'd finished with his own presents. "It seems your friends know you pretty well," he commented, "giving you a book, I mean."

Frances looked a little embarrassed by the comment. "Yeah, I suppose I do read a lot."

Hannah had sent her skin and hair potions. Her friends blonde hair always seemed so shiny and soft, as did her skin, and she had promised to let Frances in on her secret. It looked like she had kept her word. Not that she thought it would do any good, her own hair wasn't quite as unmanageable as Hermione's but it was still a bit on the wild side, then again, this was a magic potion, so it might just do the trick.

Mary's Christmas dinner was always spectacular. For starters they had an assortment of crackers with cheese and pate'; turkey for main course with roast potatoes, little sausages wrapped in bacon and veg so soft you hardly had to chew, all covered in a delicious gravy. The dessert was the best bit, with three different cakes to choose from: Christmas pudding, hot chocolate fudge cake, and strawberry cheese cake, all served with ice cream. The only meal that could ever top it was the Hogwarts feasts. Alfie had practically drooled when Frances described the assortment of foods on offer there.

The family laughed and chatted, pulled crackers and wore silly hats, simply enjoying being in each others' company again. Family was what Christmas had always been about for the Borrows', and for two whole weeks they could celebrate together before Frances had to return to school.

Almost too soon however the festivities ended and father and daughter made their way back down to London. This time Frances was quiet during the journey.

"Are you alright?" Christopher asked.

"I'm fine," she replied dreamily. She was thinking about Hogwarts. "I wish you could see it dad. Hogwarts I mean. It's not fair you missed out. The sorting hat said I come from a long line of Hufflepuffs, I guess that means Grandad Aderyn, and his parents, and their parents before them."

He took his eyes off the road for a split second to look at his daughter.

"He'd be proud of you, you know." he said.

A sad smile appeared on his daughters face.

The four Hufflepuff friends found an empty compartment on the Hogwarts Express for their return journey. They were sharing stories of their holiday celebrations with each other and it sounded like everyone had had a great time. Susan's extended family came to stay, and she described in detail how her mum and dad had used a complicated charm to extend a section of their home and replicate all the furnishings within it. It had been fantastic to watch, the only charms the girls really knew how to do were wingardium leviosa and lumos. They were going to learn how to conjure fire this term.

Cassandra's family lived on a large estate in the midlands. Every Christmas it was buried deep in snow, wether it snowed anywhere else in the country or not. It was an enchantment the family had cast decades ago. Every year on Christmas Eve the snow would fall and wouldn't melt until New Years Day. And it wasn't just snowmen that you would find there. An entire village with an intricately designed frozen fountain in the centre could be found on the back lawn. There was a swing park with little snow children running around laughing, and dogs barking. The dog's were always Cassandra's favourite, they would bound up to her, tails wagging whenever she came out to play with them.

Hours later the train pulled into Hogsmeade station and the girls followed the rest of the students to the carriages. They were magnificent two wheeled vehicles with soft leather seats, and to most people appeared to pull themselves. But Frances could see the black skeletal horse like creature, with blood red eyes and bat like wings folded delicately over its back. It seemed sad, she thought. Seeking to comfort it she lifted her hand and stroked the side of it's head gently.

"What are you doing?" Cassandra asked looking slightly worried.

"Stroking whatever this is," replied Frances.

"Er Frances, there's nothing there," came Hannah's voice, she was already seated in the carriage.

Frances looked between the horse and her friends, who were looking a mixture of shocked, worried and confused. Not one of them were looking at the creature. Could they not see it? And if not then why could she? What was it anyway? Before she could even voice these questions the horse stamped in impatience and she realised that the carriage in front had already gone and it was waiting to go, so she climbed in next to her friends and kept quiet.

* * *

"Alright first years settle down!"

It was a rather wet Tuesday morning and the first year Hufflepuffs had just arrived at their transfiguration class.

"Today we are going to start switching spells. It's a little different from what we were learning last term as you will be required to successfully transfigure two objects at the same time. Please turn to page 30 of your books and read the chapter, when you are done I shall perform a demonstration.

Half an hour later McGonagall looked up from her work to find the class all watching her expectantly.

"Right, I take it you have all finished reading then." The class nodded enthusiastically.

"I have on my desk two tankards. As you can see one has a handle, the other doesn't. I am going to switch the handle from the one on the left to the one on the right, like this." She waved her wand between the tankards and sure enough the handle disappeared, then reappeared on the other one. "As you have just read the key is to imagine the journey the part you are switching will take whilst making the incantation, and using your wand to guide it. Any questions?"

The room remained silent.

"Excellent, your homework is to choose two objects and describe the journey you would picture in switching their parts. When I am sure you all understand the process we can start practicing. OK, class dismissed."

Frances set to work on her task that night, having already completed her potions essay the night before. She used a shoe and a bag, describing how she would imagine untying the lace, unhooking it and guiding it over to the bag. She would then slip one end of the lace through the hoop of the bag and tie it into a nice neat bow. Satisfied with her work she sat back to enjoy the quiet of the common room. It was always so peaceful when everyone was studying, but she knew it was an entirely different matter at the weekends. Sometimes Frances found it a bit too much on their days off and would leave her friends to go visit Dalla in the owlery.

* * *

"Fine, we'll practice, but only to shut you up," Cassandra snapped.

It was a Friday evening, Frances and her friends were lounging in their usual spot by the window, and as always Cassandra was trying to coax them into playing games instead of doing homework. "Homework is so boring," she had moaned, so Frances suggested they do practical homework instead of writing or reading. They were learning the counter curses to the curses they had been taught during the first term in their Defence Against the Dark Arts class, and this week Quirrell had asked them to practice.

"We'll take it in turns," she said, gesturing to the four of them. "One of us will cast the curse of bogies on someone else, and then one of the other two will cast the counter curse."

"It's a good thing I trust the three of you, if anyone else dared cast that curse on me they'd be in trouble." Cassandra interjected.

Frances just smiled. "Would you like to go first?" she asked sweetly. Her friend knew she was mocking her but agreed anyway. Pointing her pear wood wand directly at the nose of the girl sitting opposite her Cassandra said the incantation and smiled in satisfaction as Frances started sniffing, attempting to not make a mess. Thankfully Susan, who was sitting to the right of her, pointed her own wand and cast the counter curse. Wriggling her nose at the tingling feeling Frances turned to thank, and congratulate her friend.

The girls carried on in this fashion for some time. At first they found it slightly disgusting, especially when Frances refused to do the counter curse on Cassandra as punishment for arguing with her, but soon after they began to find it quite hilarious. They had to stop entirely when Ernie came over with a box of tissues. They hadn't really thought about what this would all look like to the rest of the common room, and the not so subtle reminder that they had an audience set them off into unstoppable laughter. Clutching at her sides and trying to choke back tears Cassandra had asked "Perhaps you and Justin would like to join us?" which only set the four of them off again.

* * *

Almost too soon the snows melted and it was spring. The common room was almost empty during the evenings and weekends as the students took to hanging out in the courtyards or down by the lake. It was a gloriously sunny Tuesday afternoon as Frances made her way through the castle to find her friends. She had been asked to stay behind in Herbology to clean up, Sprout's way of showing her disappointment that she had been the only one to fail today's assignment. She knew where she would find them, the first years in general always seemed to stick to the courtyard known as the quad, a large stone paved area surrounded by towers.

When she arrived she wasn't in the least bit surprised to find Cassandra locked in a heated match of gobstones with Shaemus from Gryffindor. Hannah and Susan were cheering her on, sparring off against Ron and Neville who were doing the same for Shaemus. Frances smiled as she noticed Harry lounging against the wall, just far enough that he wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. She hurried over to join him.

"Not joining in?" She asked him.

"I'd rather watch, and by the way you hurried over hear I'm pretty sure you agree." Her grin was answer enough, but it quickly turned into a scowl.

"Harry can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well it's just, I couldn't help notice that Gryffindor have lost a lot of points lately, and the year is almost over, which means Slytherin are going to win the house cup." She sounded disappointed. To her surprise Harry was actually smiling, albeit rather guiltily. "You haven't been fighting more trolls have you?" she blurted out. Harry shook his head. "Then what? How did you loose so many points."

"I can't really tell you, we were helping a friend with something, but it kinda meant breaking a few school rules. We got caught," he added, shaking his head.

"Is your friend o.k?" she asked with concern.

Harry laughed, "Yeah he's fine, he's a big guy he can take care of himself, although I think he is a little upset." Frances nodded, although she wasn't really sure what was going on.

"Well I'm sure Hermione will get you lots of points back in class," she said reassuringly, "and if you don't get into anymore trouble..." she broke off seeing the guilty look return to Harry's face. "Harry, you're not going to get into any more trouble are you?" He shrugged in response. "Ugh, I am not looking forward to the closing feast, Slytherin flags all around the hall, Malfoy's smug face." The two of them burst out laughing despite the direction the conversation was taking. "Just be careful," Frances said when they finally stopped laughing.

"We will," was all he said.

* * *

It was their last day at Hogwarts before the summer holidays, and as much as she was looking forward to spending 3 whole months with her family Frances would miss this place, and her friends. The four of them were making their way to the Hufflepuff table when Frances spotted Ron and Hermione sitting by themselves, looking tired and worried. She remembered her conversation with Harry and grew worried herself.

"I'll be right back," she said to her friends and rushed over to the Gryffindor table.

"Where's Harry?" she asked when she reached her classmates. They didn't answer. "Has he got into trouble again?" she persisted. They exchanged glances, silently deciding wether to tell her or not, then Hermione nodded.

"He's in the hospital wing," she said quietly.

"What happened?" Frances asked.

Hermione was watching her carefully, she seemed to be having an internal debate about something. After a few minutes she stood up.

"I'm going to go visit him just now, you can come with me if you like, I'll tell you when we get there."

Frances figured that Hermione didn't want to say anything in the hall in case she was over heard, and then she felt incredibly grateful that Hermione trusted her enough to tell her the truth. She obviously regarded her as a friend, even though they hadn't spent a lot of time together. They had teamed up to find Trevor on the train, and after Hermione started hanging out with Harry and Ron they had seen more of each other. Also Hermione knew that Frances was Harry's friend, and he wouldn't want her to be worried about him.

They were both silent as they made their way to the hospital wing. When they reached the door and Madam Pomfrey answered Hermione asked to see Harry.

"I'm afraid he's still asleep," the matron informed them.

Feeling disappointed that she wouldn't get to see Harry after all Frances turned to leave but Hermione caught her arm. "You may see him however, for a little while," Pomfrey finished, stepping aside to let the girls through. Once inside the room Frances felt her face fall when she caught sight of her friend lying unconscious, battered and bruised on one of the beds.

"What happened?" she asked, turning towards Hermione.

The Gryffindor pulled out two chairs next to Harry's bed and they sat down. "We got into trouble," she said ruefully. Harry had told Hermione about the conversation he'd had with their Hufflepuff friend during the gobstones match, and her concern regarding house points. They'd both giggled about how very Hufflepuff it was to try to stay out of trouble. They however, were Gryffindors, they'd practically gone looking for trouble. Hermione was smiling at the thought but Frances couldn't bring herself to return it. Whatever they had done it had obviously been dangerous, and it was clearly more than house points at stake.

"You haven't been fighting more trolls have you?" she asked half jokingly, half serious.

"No, the troll had already been knocked out when we got there." Hermione answered honestly, causing her friends eyes to widen in shock. She opened her mouth to ask more but a thought suddenly struck her. On Halloween, when her friends were all huddled together and they were discussing conspiracy theories about the troll, she'd wondered if it had anything to do with the 3rd floor corridor, the one everyone was banned from going to.

"You went there!" she exclaimed, voicing her thoughts out loud.

"Er, went where?" Hermione asked, a little confused at the outburst.

"The third floor corridor."

Hermione nodded slowly. "Someone was trying to steal something Dumbledore had hidden down there. We figured it out but he'd left the school, so we went down ourselves."

Frances took a moment to process this information, all the while looking down at the sleeping Harry. "What was down there?" she asked.

"A three headed dog, a deadly plant, a room full of flying keys, a life sized chess board, a knocked out troll, a potions logic puzzle and I don't know what was in the last room, Harry went on alone." Hermione answered, counting each room off on her fingers. She looked up to find Frances gaping at her.

"What happened to Harry?" she finally asked when she found her voice again.

"I don't know, I went back to get help. We er, thought it was one of the teachers trying to steal it, but it appears we were wrong. I don't know who Harry encountered down there but he clearly had to put up a fight. I hope he wakes up soon."

"Are you alright?" Frances asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, granted it's not really what I expected to be doing my first year here, fighting trolls and three headed dogs, but I suppose it is a school of magic," she said with a shrug.

"Perhaps next year will be less dangerous," Frances suggested.

"I hope so, I just want to study and do well in my classes, and I'd like any extra curricular activities to be less life threatening for all of us this time." She finished.

* * *

Frances was a mix of emotion as she made her way to the end of year feast. Despite the incident on Halloween and worrying about her Gryffindor classmates it had been a fantastic year. She'd had so much fun with her new friends; Cassie was a blast, and she was definitely going to miss Hannah's chat, and snuggling up to the fire every night with their blankets wrapped around them. Then there was Harry and Ron and Hermione. She didn't hang out with them as much as her room mates but they were still her friends. Hermione had at least trusted her enough to tell her the truth about what had happened. She was going to miss them all, but she was looking forward to going home too.

The Great Hall looked as spectacular as it had done at the other celebratory feasts. Everyone was in high spirits, enjoying the fact that they had no more classes for three months. Frances sat in her usual spot at the Hufflepuff table next to Cassandra and across from Hannah and Susan. They were all chatting animatedly with each other but Frances wasn't really paying attention. She had just spotted Harry, Ron and Hermione all enter the hall together, and they all looked OK. Relieved that no one had been seriously injured she was finally able to relax and enjoy the evening.

The room fell silent as Professor Dumbledore stood up to address the students, the golden owl spreading its wings wide. After a brief introduction he proclaimed it was now time to announce the winners of the House Cup. Much to most people's disappointment the winners were Slytherin. The Hogwarts flags that floated just below the ceiling changed to green and silver as the Slytherin table shouted and cheered. Frances stole a quick glance at Malfoy, he looked way too smug, but it appeared that Dumbledore was not finished. He was gaining everyone's attention again.

"Yes, yes, well done Slytherin, however, recent events must be taken into account." The room was deadly silent. "I have a few last minute points to dish out," he continued. "First to Mr Ronald Weasley, for the best played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, 50 points." Everyone except the Slytherins cheered and Frances turned to find her friend looking both shocked and embarrassed at all the attention.

"Secondly, to Miss Hermione Granger, for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, 50 points." The room erupted again. Frances figured he must be referring to the potions puzzle. "And thirdly to Mr Harry Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house 60 points." Most of the room cheered again as Gryffindor were now tied with Slytherin for first place.

"There are all kinds of courage," Dumbledore continued, "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to out friends. I therefore award 10 points to Mr Neville Longbottom, which means," he shouted over the cheers that was now thundering through the room, "that we need a little change of decoration," and the Green and Silver flags changed to Crimson and Gold.

Once the cheering finally died down and everyone turned their attention back to Dumbledore he clapped his hands twice and the food appeared on the table. "Let us eat!" he called cheerfully.

So much delicious food was consumed and every single person there enjoyed themselves immensely, even some of the Slytherins had gotten over their disappointment. And the celebrations didn't end there, once back in the common room there was music playing, people singing and chatting. Frances found herself in a heated discussion with Ernie and Justin about Emeric the Evil. It was a memorable night, filled with all the things Frances loved most about Hogwarts; the food, her fiends, the comfortable atmosphere in the Hufflepuff common room. She would miss it all when she was back in the muggle world. Before bed the girls had one last huddle by the fire.

"Promise me you'll write," Hannah was saying. Cassandra rolled her eyes.

"Of course we're going to write," she said.

* * *

Breakfast was a quiet affair, as was the ride down to the station. The year was over, and it had been fantastic, and Frances couldn't wait to come back in September. She felt like everything was going to be different at home now that she belonged here in the magical world, still she could write to her friends, and she would be going on holiday with her family, so it wouldn't be all bad. In fact it was probably going to be a really good summer. With that in mind she settled down in the compartment she shared with her friends on the Hogwarts Express and decided to enjoy their last few hours together as they made their way back to London.


	6. Chapter 6, The Chamber of Secrets

**AN: Thanks to everyone who's been reading my story so far. I'm having a lot of fun writing it and I hope you are enjoying reading it.**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling, I'm just borrowing **

Chapter 6, Chamber of Secrets

"Alright second years quiet down." It was the last class of their first day back, and it had been a long day. Potions was hardly worth mentioning as Snape had been as vile as always, and most of the class had slept it off in History of Magic. Now they were in Charms class ready to learn something they actually deemed useful. Frances was practically bouncing in her seat with anticipation to find out what they would be learning this year. Although she had enjoyed her summer holidays it had all been very muggle and it felt great to be back in the wizarding world with her friends.

"This term we are going to be learning banishing charms." Professor Flitwick announced. "We'll start off with simple charms that focus on specific objects, before moving onto general banishment spells. The first spell I'm going to to teach you is skurgify. Does anyone know what skurgify does?" he asked the class. Susan raised her hand. "Miss Bones?"

"It's a cleaning charm, I've seen my mum use it at home a lot" she answered.

"That is correct. Skurgify is used to banish a substance from an object or surface, therefore cleaning it. 5 points to Hufflepuff," he added. He then pointed his wand at the ink pot on Ernie McMillan's desk and toppled it over so that the ink spilled onto his parchment. The boy began to shout in protest but he stopped when Flitwick levitated the parchment to the front of the class for everyone to see. With his wand still on the parchment he cast the skurgify spell and the ink vanished.

"Now before you try it for yourselves I would like you all to read the first chapter on banishing spells and write me a short paragraph explaining why this spell comes under that category. I need to make sure you understand what you are doing before you do it otherwise things could get rather messy. I will explain the similarities with other simple banishing spells in our next class, most of which can be found in the next chapter. Until then, class dismissed." He said cheerfully.

The students practically ran out of the class, eager to get back to their common room and relax before dinner. Frances and her friends reclaimed their usual spot by the window and sunk down into their beanbags. "Mmmm I've missed this," Frances said sleepily as she closed her eyes. Cassandra, who was sat across from her as always, gave her friend a gentle kick.

"Oi don't go falling asleep on us, I have gossip to share," she admonished.

"What gossip, we've only been back a day."

"Gossip about _your_ friends Harry and Ron."

"If they've gotten into trouble already then I don't want to hear about it." _Then again _she thought to herself _they'll probably be rewarded for it like last time. _"What did they do?" she asked resignedly.

"They flew a flying car to school, and crashed it into the whomping willow."

Frances burst out laughing. "Yeah pull the other one Cas, a flying car. You know for a minute there I thought you were going to tell me something serious." She abruptly stopped laughing when she noticed all three of her friends were staring at her. "They did not." she insisted.

"They really did Frances, Ron got a howler from his mum during breakfast, just after you and Susan left," Hannah said quietly. "Everyone in the hall heard it, she sounded really mad," she added.

"Why weren't they on the train?" Frances asked. Her three friends shrugged. She'd just have to ask them herself.

Unfortunately she never got the chance to ask them the next day in their shared Defence Against the Dark Arts class with their new professor Gilderoy Lockhart. Frances recognised him from his books and was really looking forward to learning from someone who had real experience. He clearly didn't have any experience with Cornish pixies, she soon found out, the lesson was a complete catastrophe.

The students watched him expectantly as he introduced himself and talked about their lessons, that is to say he talked more about himself, and then he brought everyone's attention to the cage at the front of the room that was covered with a piece of cloth. From the moment he opened it chaos ensued. The devilish blue creatures poured out and flung themselves at the students. They knocked over books and spilt ink, flew into people's faces and after a while they even started co-operating with each other to cause even more mayhem. Two of them somehow managed to lift Neville Longbottom up by the ears and hang him from the chandelier.

It was a nightmare, and to top it all off Professor Lockhart had ran off, leaving the students to fend for themselves. It was at that point that most of the students grabbed their belongings, or in some cases wrestled them from a pixie, and made for the door. Frances was just about to leave with her fiends when she heard a voice shout "Immobulus!" She turned back towards the room and found every one of the pixies suspended and frozen in mid air with their eyes blinking in shock. She spotted Hermione standing with her wand out and pointing at the room in general.

"Would you like a hand?" she offered as she approached her friend.

Frances, Hermione, Harry and Ron all missed lunch that day as it took them the whole hour to get all of the pixies back into the cage. They left a note for Professor Lockhart and then went their separate ways, Frances down to the dungeons for Potions, the Gryffindors upstairs for History of Magic. It wasn't until she reached the classroom that she realised she had forgotten to ask them about the flying car.

* * *

It was a slow first week back. Each day seemed to drag on and on filled with classes and homework. Everyone was glad when the weekend finally came. Even Frances put her homework aside in favour of relaxing with her friends and engaging in games of exploding snap and "I spy," a muggle game she used to play with Alfie on long car journeys. On Sunday she awoke with a sore head and decided she'd like some quiet time to herself. After breakfast she spent some time in the Library; she ate her lunch out on the grounds by herself, enjoying the fresh air; and before she headed back to the common room she decided to go up to the owlery to visit Dalla.

"Hiya Dalla, enjoying being back at Hogwarts?" she asked the small grey owl. It hooted in response and landed on her shoulder. Frances rubbed her cheek against the silky soft feathers. "If I were an owl," she told her companion, "I'd love it here, to be able to fly out over the lake and the forest, right up to the tallest tower in the castle," she said with a smile. "And you have so many friends," she continued, looking around at all the other owls. She recognised the sleeping snowy owl to her left as Hedwig, Harry's owl. "I didn't really come visit you enough last year," she said, suddenly thoughtful. "I kind of got caught up with all the excitement you know, but I'm sure this year will be a little less hectic, no trolls or three headed dogs to worry about." Although she'd popped up every now and again to send a letter home she hadn't done this in a long time, just spent time with her owl, so she stayed a while longer, laughing as Dalla flew around her and cuddling her close when she grew tired. When she left to go back up to the castle for dinner Frances promised Dalla that she would be back the next day with a letter to send home, and that they would definitely be doing this again next weekend.

* * *

As the months passed the castle grew colder. Apart from her weekly visits too see Dalla, Frances barely set foot outside. Unfortunately she wasn't enjoying staying inside that much either. It was the new first year Hufflepuffs, they were far too excitable and far too noisy in her opinion. She had thought it was just the excitement of being at Hogwarts and that it would just wear off but every time she came through the tunnel into the common she was ambushed by noise. There were 10 of them, 6 boys and 4 girls and they all hung out together in one big group, making as much damned noise as possible. As a result Frances usually went to the library to do her homework and if you didn't find her there she would be through in her dorm.

One horribly wet and miserable Saturday afternoon Cassandra, Susan and Hannah decided to join her in their dorm. The hearth crackled merrily, heating up the entire room, and the four girls huddled together on Cassandra's bed. They were still wearing their pyjamas and has their blankets wrapped around them. They sat in a circle, and in the middle was Cassandra's star chart.

"Please Frances, you promised," the dark haired girl huffed.

"That was last year!" her friend exclaimed in response.

"Exactly, I let you off last year. Oh come on it's just a bit of fun, what harm can it do? Anyway, if I do predict something bad it's not like we can do anything about it, it's the future, it's going to happen whether I predict it or not."

"Oh real comforting Cas." Frances said sarcastically, but her friend hardly noticed the tone, she was too busy pulling puppy dog eyes. Frances looked to Susan and Hannah for back up.

"I want to see what it says," Hannah said quietly.

Frances turned to her fellow red head. "Susan?"

"It's just a bit of fun," she agreed, echoing Cassandra's words.

"Fine," Frances reigned, "Do mines first, I want to get it over with so I can get back to my book in peace."

"OK," Cassandra began. "Your birthday is the 12th of June, you were born in 1980, it's December and it's one week after the full moon." Her features turned into a frown of concentration as she cross referenced her star chart with her note book she had been working on since her first ever astronomy class. It wasn't an assignment, she'd just wanted to put her own thoughts on the subject together. After a moment she looked up at her friend. "Well I've got something, and judging by the way you've been acting today I'd say it's already happening."

"What is it?" Frances blurted, forgetting to be uninterested.

"It seems something is going to put you in a really bad mood, I don't know what, but until the moon completes its cycle your gonna be in poor spirits. That sucks." she added.

Frances huffed and grabbed the note book. "How did you come to that conclusion, or are you just making fun of me since I thought this whole idea was stupid in the first place."

"I'm not," Cassandra insisted. "Here look, that graph there shows the lunar cycle, if you cross reference it's position with the star representing your birthday..." Frances didn't understand it at all. She liked pure facts, not guess work and assumption.

"Alright I'll take your word for it, I'm going to be grumpy for a while, can I go back to my book now?" she asked.

"Yeah you can go back to your book. I just thought it would be fun for us to do something together."

"I'm still going to be in the same room you know."

Sensing that an argument was near Susan decided to intervene. "Will you do mines next?" she asked, effectively gaining her friends attention. Cassandra turned back to the chart while Frances climbed onto her own bed. It took a lot longer to work out Susan's but eventually she looked up frowning.

"I had to double check it," she explained, "because I didn't think it could be right, I know you and I don't think you're the kind of person who would, but it must be right." She was making no sense to anyone.

"What does it say?" Hannah asked impatiently.

"Well, I think Susan's going to have an argument, and fall out with one of us."

"But she's our friend, what could possibly happen to make her fall out with us?"

"Maybe we should ask grumpy over there," Cassandra said, jerking her thumb in Frances direction.

"Ha ha very funny," came the voice from the other bed.

"Try mines," Hannah said determinedly. One of them had to have something good happen to them, she hoped. She was wrong. Apparently something big was going to happen, something big and something dangerous. That was all the information they could figure out. It was so unusual for so many negative predictions to be made at once. Cassandra consulted her chart almost every day, but it had never been like this. It worried her.

"Let me read yours," a voice broke through her musings. She looked up to find Frances standing over her.

"Do you know how to?" Cassandra asked.

"Not really, but if you help me, I want to make sure your not making this up, because of you are, it's not funny."

"I wouldn't do that! Why would I want to say these things?"

That's exactly what Frances thought, and she didn't like the sound of it, it sounded like more trouble.

"Ok so what star represents 19th February?" she asked. Cassandra showed her the star that represented her birthday and they looked it up on the year chart. They then cross referenced it with the lunar chart for December. "Knowledge?" asked Frances, looking up at her friend. She received a nod. After reading a small description in the notebook she closed it and put it aside. "So apparently Cas has some kind of knowledge that we don't," she explained to the other two. "I hate to admit it, but it's probably the predictions she just made, which means there is going to be more trouble and it's going to cause a lot of tension between us," she finished sadly. "I apologise in advance."

Everyone sat in silence for a while, contemplating everything they had just learned. It was Frances who stood up first. "Come on," she said to the others, let's go get dinner," she said. The three girls stood up too, but before they could move to get changed Frances pulled them in to a group hug after which they were all smiling again. "That's better," she said.

* * *

Over the next few days the girls were quiet. Frances was in a bad mood but it was only because she knew something bad was going to happen. It was infuriating, waiting for something without even knowing what you were waiting for. It caused her to lose her concentration in class and for the first time ever she wasn't hanging on to Professor Binns' every word. She found it rather embarrassing since the double class was shared with Ravenclaw, and they were apparently capable of complete concentration at all times. She felt guilty once the class was over so she stopped Padma Patil to ask if she could borrow her notes. The Ravenclaw agreed to bring them to the Halloween feast that night, and they made their way from the classroom together.

After the feast Frances found Padma waiting for her in the foyer.

"I made you a copy," the ravenclaw explained.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it."

"It's not like you not to pay attention in class," Padma said.

Frances shrugged, "It's Halloween, guess I just expect something to go wrong like last year."

"I'm sure everything will be fine," her friend reassured her.

They were both too busy discussing the International Warlock Convention to notice the increasing level of noise coming from down the hall, and when they turned the corner they both walked straight into a group of fifth years. In fact, there was more than just fifth years, the entire corridor was packed full with students, and they all seemed to be staring at something. Padma stood on her tip toes, leaning on Frances to gain hight, but as soon as she saw what everyone else did she promptly fell over, nearly bringing the other girl with her.

"What is it?" Frances asked.

"It's, water, and writing, in blood, filch's cat."

"Because that made sense." Frances said sarcastically. Padma didn't say anything, just stared at her, looking pale.

There was no way Frances would be able to see through the crowd, even if she did stand on her toes, so instead she pushed her way through. When she got to the front she stood frozen. It was exactly as Padma had said; there was a large puddle on the floor, and hanging from the bracket in the wall was filch's cat, who appeared to be dead. On the wall there was a message: "_The Chamber of Secrets has been opened, enemies of the heir_ beware" was written in blood. What Padma had failed to mention was the fact that Harry was standing in the midst of it all. She managed to catch his eye and look at him questioningly. He only shrugged in answer, but he look panicked. It was enough for her, her friend might have got into a lot of trouble last year but he didn't seem to know what was going on here, he just somehow seemed to be stuck in the middle of it. Just his luck, she supposed.

Back in the common room everyone was having a hard time settling down. Frances had to abandon her Herbology research she had planned to do as there was no way she could possibly concentrate with both the noise and the million questions she had filling her head. "Who are the enemies of the heir?" she asked suddenly, slamming her quill down on the table. Hannah startled. Neither she nor Susan looked like they had an answer.

"Muggle borns." Cassandra stated as she sat down onto the empty beanbag. "At least that's what Malfoy thinks anyway." She received three equally confused stares in response. "When he saw the message, he said '_you'll be next mud bloods'" _she explained. Still the others said nothing.

"So, students with non magical parents are in danger?" Frances finally asked. Cassandra nodded solemnly.

"We don't know that!" Susan exclaimed fiercely. She had unconsciously grabbed Frances' arm as she shouted. Despite the situation Frances felt a flutter of happiness at her friend's reaction. It seemed they'd come to the same conclusion; that if muggle borns really were in danger, then it meant Frances possibly was too. She might have magical ancestors, but neither her mother or father could do magic. "I won't let any harm come to you," Susan whispered.

"We stick together," Hannah said pointedly, looking between each of her friends. Cassandra didn't say anything, she just squeezed Frances hand and nodded.


	7. Chapter 7, Slytherin's Heir

**AN: Hello! Thank you so much to everyone who's taken the time to read my story so far, I can't tell you how happy I am that it's actually being read! **** This is a big project as I'm going to cover the entire 7 books so it's going to be a long time until it's finished. If you decide to stick around to see how Frances' story goes, that's fantastic! Anyways, for now here is Chapter 7.**

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognise from Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling, Frances and my other original characters belong to me.**

Chapter 7, Friends Stick Together

Frances decided to not tell her parents about the latest trouble at Hogwarts. They had been worried enough about the troll incident the year before, and she wasn't sure how they would react to the news of a monster that petrifies people. She loved Hogwarts, but she had been more relieved than she could say to go home for the Christmas Holidays, safe and sound with her family. She had felt a moment of sadness as she thought about the families who wouldn't have their children home for Christmas this year. There was a cure being made for the petrified students, but no one knew when it would be ready.

All too soon however the holidays were over and everyone was back at Hogwarts and watching their every step. It took twice as long to get anywhere in the castle in the large groups they'd all been advised to travel in. Frances, Cassandra, Susan, Hannah, Ernie and Justin were actually relieved to finally make it back to their seemingly overcrowded common room. The feeling didn't last long as they soon realised something was going on. Frances squeezed her way through the crowd to see what they were all looking at and found a notice: Professor Lockhart was starting a duelling club.

On Friday evening, once classes were finished and everyone had had dinner, the second years made their way back to the Great Hall. It had been transformed. The tables were gone, and in their place was a large Dias the length of the room. The students gathered around it, Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs on one side, Slytherins and Ravenclaws on the other, and Professor Lockhart strutted up the steps to the top and held his arms out for silence.

"Welcome everyone," he began as he flashed his brilliant smile. "Professor Dumbledore has given me permission to start this little duelling club, due to the er, current situation here at Hogwarts. I believe we should all be able to defend ourselves, but before we begin let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape." Only the Slytherins cheered when their head of house climbed up onto the Dias. He clearly wasn't pleased at being called an "assistant."

"Now, when one duels, there are certain formalities one must adhere too, Professor Snape and I will demonstrate the correct procedure."

The two men were stood face to face with their wands at the ready. Holding them to their chests they bowed once to each other then took three steps backwards. Once they were at either end of the platform they both took on a ready stance. Lockhart announced they would demonstrate defensive spells but before he could even cast one he was flung through the air and ended lying flat on his back. The students pointed and laughed at him. He quickly scrambled up and smoothed out his extravagant robes.

"Yes very good to show them that one Severus, although I must say I could have easily blocked it if I hadn't wanted to demonstrate the effects of your spell. "

Snape merely sneered at him. "Perhaps we should have some volunteers?" he suggested.

"Yes, very good idea Severus, let's see, ah yes, Harry, would you join us on the platform." Harry looked reluctant to go but Frances noticed Hermione give him a little shove. Lockhart greeted him with a pat on the back and an "Excellent!"

"Might I suggest someone from my own house?" Snape cut in before Lockhart asked Ron to join them on the Dias. Lockhart agreed and unsurprisingly to most Malfoy was chosen.

The two rivals stood face to face. They bowed to each other, just as they had been shown, and took three steps backwards. Malfoy crouched down with his wand already pointing at Harry, who was standing, feet apart, and looking nervous. Neither one of them followed the instruction to cast defensive spells only. Harry cast Expelliarmus, but at the same time Malfoy cast a spell Frances hadn't heard before. When he shouted Serpensortia, a snake burst forth from his wand and went straight for Harry. He tried to fire some spells at it but nothing happened. Lockhart cut in but his spell was just as useless.

Just as everyone was starting to panic the snake suddenly stopped. Harry appeared to be whispering to it, and as he spoke his voice became louder and more confident. Everyone froze in shock, Harry was speaking to the snake, in the snakes own language. Everyone watched in horror as the snake slithered along the Dias. Frances gripped onto Justin's arm, it was coming straight for them. It stopped right in front of the boy and raised up tall, ready to strike. Not a single sound could be heard except for Harry's strange chanting. It seemed as though he were egging the snake on, that at any moment the snake would strike out. Frances closed her eyes, she couldn't bear the snakes stare a moment longer. With her eyes closed she suddenly heard the sound of something being incinerated. She opened her eyes, and where the snake had been there was now a pile of ash. Looking up the Dias she spotted Professor Snape with his wand out and pointing at the place where the snake had been. He had saved them.

"What are you playing at?" Justin shouted at Harry. They both looked as scared as each other, Justin was shaking and Harry was standing stock still, eyes wide. Justin's outburst was like the hole that broke the dam. The entire room erupted, students screaming and yelling at Harry, those around Frances and Justin were making sure they were OK and she just noticed Hermione and Ron trying to pull their friend down from the platform. The Slytherins were laughing at the whole situation.

"Silence!" Snapes voice cut through the noise. "Everone will return to their dorms, immediately. "

* * *

"What the hell just happened?" Frances asked when they were back in the common room. Ernie and Justin had brought two beanbags over to join the girls. Cassandra looked at her friend sadly.

"Frances I know Harry is your friend, but what happened back there, that wasn't right. Being able to talk to snakes, it's not something that just anyone can do."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there was one person who could, and it's a talent he passed on to his descendants."

Frances looked at her friend confused. "Who?" she asked.

"Salazar Slytherin." Justin said with venom in his voice. It was a name that had been mentioned a lot lately. Ever since that first message written on the wall. Hermione had asked Professor McGonagall in their shared transfiguration class what the Chamber of Secrets was and they were all told the story of the four founders, and how one of them had had a different opinion of what made a good witch or wizard than the others. The rumour was that he created a chamber that held a monster, a monster that would get rid of any students he deemed unworthy of being taught at the school. What the monster actually was, no one knew.

"Wait, you don't think that Harry Potter is Salazar Slytherins air do you?" All five of her friends were looking at her with pity. "That's absolutely ridiculous and you know it. He defeated the darkest wizard of all time, and he saved the school from the troll last year. He isn't about to go and set a monster loose on us now is he!?" She was panting heavily as she shouted at the group around her. They had sat silently the entire time, refusing to meet her eye. She understood that they wanted some explanation as to what was going on but this wasn't it.

Her attention was brought to Justin as he tugged on her sleeve to get her to sit down. "You were stood right beside me when that thing was about to attack, you know better than anyone what he tried to do to me." he said quietly. He was still visibly shaken. Frances could only shake her head. She just wouldn't believe it, whatever Harry was saying to that snake there was no way he was telling it to attack. He wouldn't do that. She stood up.

"So you all believe Harry is the heir, that he opened the chamber and he set the monster on the students." They all nodded. Frances felt tears sting her eyes. "Have any of you heard the phrase innocent until proved guilty?" she asked quietly.

"I'd say what we saw today was pretty good evidence Frances," Susan said. It was the first time anyone besides Cassandra and Justin had spoken. Frances nodded and turned her back on them, she couldn't let them see her tears that were now flowing freely.

"Fine," she said hoarsely, and walked off towards her room.

* * *

It had been an awfully long week. Frances was still forced to move around the castle with the other second year Hufflepuffs but none of them were speaking to her. They were still all convinced that Harry was the heir to Slytherin, and had set the monster from the chamber to petrify the muggle borns. She felt it was a completely ridiculous notion, but then none of them had taken the time to get to know Harry the way she had, to them he was still just the boy who lived.

After class on Friday the six of them went to the library together. Frances would rather have gone alone but as that was against the rules at the moment she was forced to tag along with the others. She had never seen the place so busy, and Madam Pince seemed to be frightfully close to yelling at someone with all the noise they were all making. Hardly anyone was actually studying, they were all gossiping and chatting, and Frances didn't need two guesses as to what they were all talking about. She felt herself getting annoyed; if they wanted to chat they should have stayed in their common rooms. She knew most people would probably be getting fed up of staying in their common rooms as they weren't allowed to just hang around in the corridors any more but it was no excuse for abusing the library.

Resignedly she sat down at a table with Cassandra and the others. Although Hannah sat in the seat beside her, Susan, Ernie and Justin found seats as far along the table from them as they could. She felt hurt. Susan had been her friend for over a year and she missed her companionship. Her hurt was soon replaced by anger though as the three of them immediately started talking about Harry Potters 'scandal' again. She stood up angrily, her chair falling with a crash behind her.

"Is something the matter Frances?" Susan asked mock sweetly.

"Yes something is very wrong," she replied, practically seething. "I'm sick fed up of the lot of you spouting ridiculous lies about my friend! You're so ungrateful! After everything Harry's done for this school, you repay him by making up stories! Not only is what you're saying hurtful and cruel, but you won't even trust me, your friend, when I tell you you're wrong. Well I've had enough!" she finished. She was breathless and her body was shaking as she stood there, but still no one said anything to her. Hannah at least had the decency to look ashamed.

Just then she noticed someone moving out of the corner of her eye. She turned around to see Harry storming out of the library, Hermione and Ron rushing after him. He must have heard us she thought to herself. Throwing one last scowl at Susan she grabbed her things and ran out after them.

"Harry, wait!" She shouted when she was close enough for him to hear. The three of them stopped and when she reached them Hermione immediately pulled her into a hug. "What was that for?" She asked bemused.

"For standing up for Harry," Hermione explained. "It seems you're about the only one who will besides us." Frances pulled away.

"Sorry about my friends," she said turning to face Harry. "I've tried to tell them, but they won't listen to me, they won't talk to me at all actually," she finished sadly.

"Well we were just about to go sit outside for a bit, you're welcome to join us," he offered.

"I'd love to." Frances knew he was lying. They had only just entered the library when they overheard the argument, but she was just so grateful for his friendship at the moment that she let it drop.

* * *

"Where have you been?" Cassandra asked the moment Frances walked into the common room. She had tried to sound accusatory but Frances could hear the concern in her voice, although it wasn't enough to change the way she felt about her at the moment.

"I've just had a rather pleasant afternoon with my friends, and you'll be pleased to know that despite being in Harry's company I have not seen nor been set upon by the monster."

"He's not going to set it on his friends," Susan retorted.

"For your information Colin Creevey is one of his friends."

"You mean was."

"They're not dead you idiot, they're petrified."

"Oh I'm the idiot am I?"

"Yes, you are." Frances stormed through to her dorm.

When she fell on her bed she burst into tears. She hated fighting like this but they just wouldn't listen to her. She had tried every approach she could think of; pleading, shouting, reasoning, but they were just too stubborn, and every time she felt like she was finally getting through to them Justin would remind them that the snake had been ready to attack him. She felt so alone, just like she had in the muggle primary school. Her afternoon with the Gryffindors had been nice but they were feeling the tension more than anyone. There had to be someone she could talk to. At home when she had felt like this she had at least had her little brother to confide in, he was incredibly smart for a 9 year old and always knew what to say to make her feel better. Then again there was no reason why she couldn't still confide in him. She pulled out some parchment, ink and a quill from her bag and wrote down the entire story, adding a note at the end saying don't tell mum and dad, they'll only worry. It seemed silly, but having written it down she actually felt a little better. After tucking it safely under her pillow she got ready for bed and was asleep shortly after.

* * *

A month passed, and nothing changed. Apart from her brief get-togethers with Harry, Hermione and Ron, Frances felt completely alone. Alfie had responded to her letter telling her to keep strong and that her friends would come around eventually. She desperately wanted to believe him, but at this point it seemed highly unlikely. The only positive thing at all was that the weather was getting warmer and the students were finally allowed to go out on the grounds while it was still light. Frances treasured her moments down by the lake. Sometimes Dalla would fly down to join her and they would sit quietly together, leaving all her troubles up at the castle.

After a delightful afternoon doing just that it was with reluctance that she made her way to the great hall for dinner. She sat in her usual seat despite the fact that she may as well be invisible to her friends for all the good it would do.

"Hey Frances, what's wrong with your friends?" Susan asked snidely as she gestured to the Gryffindor table. Frances had to turn in her seat to look but when she spotted Harry and Ron she found them looking really upset about something.

"What's wrong?" She asked when she reached the Gryffindor table. Harry looked at her with sad eyes.

"It's Hermione," he said. "She's been petrified." Frances' hand flew to her mouth as she gasped in shock. When she recovered from the shock she looked between her two friends and sat down.

"It's alright," she said confidently as she laid a comforting hand on Harry's arm. "The mandrakes will be ready soon, she'll be back in no time." She tried to smile to support her own words, but it was hard. She was scared.

* * *

Frances looked dazed as she entered the common room. Without thinking she walked over to her beanbag by the window and sat down, despite the fact that she hadn't sat there with her friends for a month. They were all watching her strange behaviour. Her false bravado she had worn throughout the day as she walked with Harry and Ron between classes and had lunch with them was finally gone. Her head jerked up suddenly.

"Did someone say something?" She asked.

"Er, yeah. Are you alright?" Cassandra asked quietly. This time she didn't mask the concern in her voice.

"Yeah," Frances whispered, but she was shaking her head. She looked up to find the three of them watching her, worry evident in their faces. "It's Hermione," she said at last, "she's been... the monster it... she's in the hospital wing." She couldn't bring herself to say the actual words. Susan laid a hand on her arm.

"I'm sorry Frances." She was referring to the current topic of Hermione of course but Frances thought that the simple sentence had meant so much more. The way her friend held her eyes conveyed that she was sorry for everything. She nodded to show that she understood. After a moments silence it was Hannah who said what the three of them were really wanting to say.

"Harry wouldn't set that thing on his best friend. It must be someone else." Frances felt the tears that she had held back all day well up in her eyes. She wiped them with the back of her hand feeling irritated.

"Finally figured that out have you?" She snapped. Hannah looked hurt but it was nothing compared to the hurt they had all caused her to feel over the last month. By the way she hung her head it seemed Hannah realised that too.

"We've been rotten to you haven't we?" She said glumly.

"Yes, you have."

"It's not like we were the only ones who thought it was Harry," Cassandra argued.

Frances glared at her.

"So what, you all believe me now, we just forget it ever happened and go back to being friends?" She asked angrily.

"Well, yeah."

"What if I don't want to. Do you have any idea how much you three have hurt me?" All three of them looked remorseful at this.

"We were scared Frances," Cassandra began to explain. She lifted her eyes to look at her friend as she spoke. "Blaming Harry made everything easier, with someone to blame, it seemed less scary, and if we hadn't kept our distance from you..." She never finished her sentence as Frances' glare became too much. After a short, uncomfortable silence Susan spoke up.

"Guys I'm scared, we know it wasn't Harry who opened the chamber now, but that means it could be anyone." She looked to Frances to say this next part. "We have to stick together. All of us."

* * *

It felt fantastic to have her friends back, but at the back of her mind Frances couldn't forget the reason why they had finally made up. Things at Hogwarts were getting worse. The teachers were more worried than ever, and the students became more nervous with each passing day. It was when everyone was sent back to their common rooms by frantic teachers and prefects that she knew something really terrible had happened.

They were making their way back from dinner, not far from the girls bathroom where the writing on the wall had first been seen. The quickest way to the common room was in the opposite direction, but Frances grabbed Cassandra's arm and pulled her round the corner. What they saw made them freeze on the spot, their blood running cold. Written in the wall, again in blood, were the words _her body will lie in the chamber forever._

"Frances we have to go," Cassandra whispered, pulling at her friends arm. Frances nodded and they both ran as fast as they could all the way down to the safety of their common room. Susan and Hannah had been waiting for them near the exit of the tunnel.

"Where did you go?" Hannah asked panickedly. "One minute you were right behind us the next you were gone!"

"We're fine Hannah," Frances assured her, "but someone else isn't." She motioned for them to go sit down by the window. "Someone's been taken into the chamber," she explained.

"Who?" Susan asked.

"I don't know," she answered shaking her head, "but as we were running away I heard McGonagall say that if the culprit isn't found, they're going to close the school!"

Everyone gasped.

"But no one even knows where the entrance to the chamber is! How are they going to rescue them!?" Cassandra asked worriedly. Frances could only shake her head again.

"This is just awful," Hannah said, she was close to tears.

"There's nothing we can do," Frances said sadly, "we'll likely be sent home tomorrow, and who knows when we'll be able to come back. And whoever is down there..." She was too afraid to finish the sentence. Things had never looked so grim in her life, even with the comfort of having her friends around her again. There really was nothing they could do but hope someone found a way to get into the chamber and save the poor girl that was down there. An almost impossible task.

Frances sighed. She was scared and weary and worried all at once. She wanted nothing more than to just curl up and go to sleep. To forget about everything even just for a moment. By the way her best friends looked they clearly felt the same. "Come on," she said as she stood up. "Let's go to bed."


	8. Chapter 8, Sirius Black

**AN: Hello again. Sorry for the really long wait for this chapter, I had some rather important real life stuff going on like getting married and visiting the Harry Potter Studio in London during out honeymoon. So without further hesitation, here is the next chapter**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that JKR already does.**

Chapter 8, Sirius Black

The first thing Frances did when she arrived home for the summer holidays was write a letter to each of her friends. She was inviting Cassandra, Susan and Hannah to come and stay for her 13th birthday. She also wrote a letter to Harry. The whole Chamber of Secrets crisis had somehow managed to just blow over apparantly, and she'd heard rumours that someone had found the chamber, defeated the monster and saved the student that had been taken. After the troll incident and saving the school in first year, Frances had a pretty good idea who that might be. So she wrote Harry a letter asking if it was infact him, and also to keep in touch over the summer.

Dalla hooted excitedly as she flew around her room. "OK," Frances explained to her, "these three," she held up the three pieces of rolled up parchment, "are for Cassandra, Susan and Hannah." The owl hooted and bobbed her head. "This one," she continued, "is for Harry." She hooted again and rubbed her soft feathers against the girl's fingers. "There's no need to hurry, and maybe one of the girls will let you stay the night." With one last hoot the owl flew over to the window. "Be safe!" Frances called out after her.

"I think I'm going to get a toad." Came a voice from behind her. Frances turned around to find her little brother Alfie standing in the doorway. He only had one more year at muggle school, then he'd be going to Hogwarts too. Frances thought how quickly the last two years had gone, he'd be turning 10 in a few months!

"Why is that?" She asked him fondly.

"Well, I can use Dalla to write to mum and dad if I want to, and I don't really like cats, I'm more of a dog person, but I don't think you can take dogs, but I like toads. I can't even eat a chocolate frog you know." Frances couldn't help but smile, he sounded so innocent yet so grown up at the same time. "Are your friends coming for your birthday?" He asked, changing the subject.

"I hope so, mum and dad said yes so I'll just have to wait and see what their parents say. It'll probably be strange for them here," she said thoughtfully as she looked around her very muggle bedroom. She had always been fascinated by the stories her friends would tell after summer and Christmas holidays, their wizarding houses sounded so fantastic. They would probably just find this place boring, but still they knew how to have fun together. One thing she knew they would like was her mum's cooking, which at the moment she could smell drifting up from the kitchen. "Dinner's almost ready," she said. Alfie didn't need telling twice, he was racing down the stairs before you could even think the word 'hungry.'

After dinner the family sat together in the living room. There was a really good film on the television and they were going to watch it together. Christopher moved the sofa and armchairs so that they were all sitting in a row and turned out the lights as if they were in the cinema. They even had popcorn and sweeties to snack on. Apart from the sounds coming from the television set the room was in complete silence as the family engrossed themselves in the film. It was a new film about a dinosaur theme park, with real dinosaurs brought back to life.

During the break Frances left to refill everyone's drinks. When she came back she started to ask what they all though of the film so far when she was interrupted with a "quiet!" from her mother. Frances looked to the screen as she sat back down and saw a picture of a rather frightning and very angry looking man. The headline under the picture read: _Sirius Black, mass murderer escaped from prison. _She listened to the reporter as she told the story but somehow the details all seemed rather vague. Still she knew her mother would be worried, and she and Alfie would probably not be allowed to go into town on their own for a while.

She was right, Mary didn't let them leave the house for a whole week. To be fair it was a rather big house with a large back garden with swings and a slide and a sandpit, but after a few days they found themselves getting bored. The news reporters said that no one actually knew where Sirius Black was, and Mary was afraid to send her children out on their own, just in case. It wasn't just the fact that they were stuck at home that was getting Frances down though; Dalla hadn't returned from sending the letters a whole week ago, and she was starting to really worry.

By the weekend it wasn't just the children who had grown wrestless. Christopher was fine, as he got to leave to go to work each day, but Mary hadn't left the house once. "How about we all go into town today?" She suggested at the breakfast table. Not surprisingly the children thought it was a fantastic idea, so once they were all dressed and ready, the family of four took the short walk into town. The sun was out and despite the slight breeze it was still relatively warm. All in all it was a pleasant journey.

When they passed the primary school however, Frances felt her blood run cold. She really had been miserable there. She had never fit in and had hated the way everyone had treated her. They had had no good reason for it, it was just for fun. Even the teachers had turned a blind eye and generally ignored anything to do with Frances Burrows. Things at Hogwarts were much much different she thought with a smile. She had friends, and the teachers actually seemed to care about you, well maybe not Snape. And the things she learned, magic and lore and reading the stars. It was truly fascinating. It was still hard to believe even now after two years. Feeling a lot more confident she lifted her head high and turned her back on the school. That part of her life was over.

The family had a lovely afternoon in the village. They sat in the park and had a picnic, followed by a walk around the pond feeding the ducks, then they popped into a few of their favourite shops, including the sweetie shop. What was more, on the walk home, Frances spotted Dalla soaring above heading for the house, and she appeared to have a bundle of letters attached to her legs. Her friends had all written back!

She ran up the stairs to her bedroom and flung her door open. Dalla was perched on her desk waiting patiently. "Oh it is good to see you," Frances said breathlessly and scooped the little bird into her arms. She unattached the letters and sat down to read them, the owl snuggling on her lap. The first was from Cassandra.

_Dear Frances,_

_Yay you wrote, not that I thought you wouldn't, you always do, but you know. I asked mum if I could come to your birthday and she said yes, that was until she heard the news about Sirius Black escaping. I don't know if you know about it, he was a death eater, you know, one of You-Know-Who's followers. He killed a bunch of muggles and got sent to Azkaban, but he's escaped. No one's ever escaped before. No one knows where he is or how he got out. So yeah, mum's been freaking out about it, she knew his cousin in school. So now I'm not allowed to come to your birthday, infact I'm not allowed to go anywhere. I wish it was Christmas, at least then I'd have the snowmen. Anyway, happy 13th birthday when in comes. _

_Cas_

_X x x x_

All the excitement she had been feeling until she read the letter leaked from her. It wasn't just that her best friend couldn't come to her birthday, but knowing she was having the same rubbish summer, stuck in the same place and getting bored, made her sad. She was too busy dwelling on her own miseries to even register what Cassandra had said about Sirius Black. It was only after she read the letters from Susan and Hannah that it really sunk in.

They had both had the same answer; thier parents wouldn't let them go because of the escaped convict. It explained why the reports on the news always seemed so vague; the muggles had been warned of the situation, but they were never given the details, like what prison he had escaped from for example. Knowing he was both a wizard and dangerous made it so much worse. She decided to keep the information to herself, there was no point in worrying her mother further.

Frances felt like she had just lived through the longest three months of her life. Sure she still wrote to her friends. Harry had replied to his letter confirming that yes, he and Ron had found the Chamber of Secrets and rescued Ron's little sister Ginny from the monster, which had been a basilisk. After a while though Harry stopped writing and she really hoped nothing had happened to him. In his last letter he had said something about his aunt coming to stay but that was about it. It didn't matter now anyway. In just a few days they would all be back on the Hogwarts Express making thier way back up to Scotland, and to the enchanted castle they all called home.

As they made their way down to London Frances reflected on the whole summer. The atmosphere had been tense with her parents worrying the whole time, and towards the end she and Alfie had found themselves bickering about things that wouldn't usually annoy them. Her mother would be quiet one minute, shouting at them the next, and her father would rush home from work and turn on the news before he'd even taken his coat off. Everyday the reports were the same; Sirius Black was still out there, and very very dangerous. They would caution the viewers to be vigilant, to not let thier children out alone, and that he could be anywhere.

Still, she had to look on the bright side, she'd gotten to spend a lot of time with her family. Now that she was heading back to Hogwarts she realised that she would probably be missing them again in a few weeks. The atmosphere might have been strained but on the whole they'd had a lot of fun. They'd had barbecues in the back garden, she'd stayed up late with Alfie talking about school and magic, and had snuggled up with her mum in thier pyjamas. Looking back it hadn't been all that bad.

As always she shared her holiday stories with her friends during the journey north. Due to the circumstances there was nothing particularly exciting to share, but they all managed to have a good giggle despite that fact. For the first time in months Frances started to feel truly relaxed. She was no longer under the over protective eye of her mother and was re united with her fellow Hufflepuffs, ready for another year at Hogwarts. Everyone appeared to be enjoying the reunion. Until a cold chill filled the air.

That was how it started; a cold chill, but as Frances wrapped her robes tighter around her body she started to feel sad. No, not just sad, she was miserable. She felt like she was sitting alone behind the school again and the girls in her class were pointing and laughing at her. They wouldn't let her go, she was going to be stuck there forever. She looked up into their cold dead eyes and she fought the urge to cry out in dispair. And then it was gone.

The haze lifted and Frances looked between her three friends. The image of a haunted hooded figure was burned into her eyes as she stared at them in confusion. "Was that, what I think it was?" She asked. Susan slowly nodded.

"Yes. A dementor," she whispered.

"What, why was it here?"

"They were looking for Sirius Black." Susan's face was ghostly white.

When Frances and her friends made their way onto the platform at Hogsmeade they finally realised the full effect the dementors had had on all the students. The usual start of term excitement was gone, replaced by worried expressions as everyone except the first years made their way to the carriages. Already feeling low, Frances came close to tears when her eyes fell on the skeletal horses waiting there.

She'd found out what they were, wanting to to know why she could see them but her friends couldn't. She hadn't liked the answer. The beasts were called Thestrals, and could only be seen by those who had seen death. She would forever more be haunted by the lifeless form of her Grandfather each time she encountered the creatures. After the run in with the dementors, it was almost too much.

It was only once she'd left the cold chill of the night air and entered the familiar surroundings of the Great Hall that Frances finally felt her mood lift. She was back at Hogwarts. She was with her friends, and in a few moments they would all be indulging in another Hogwarts feast. There would be chatter and laughter and when the evening was done they would make their way down to the safety of the Hufflepuff common room and their dorms. She smiled as she imagined the four of them huddled around the hearth with their blankets, and it would be like they had never left.

With so much to look forward to this year it wouldn't take long to forget about the terrible summer. Sirius Black would be the last thing on thier minds despite the presence of the creepy dementors. She was going to start two new classes this year, and she'd promised Harry that she would actually go watch the Quidditch matches, she hadn't really been that interested before, it was always so cold outside and she preferred to stay in and enjoy the peace while everyone else was gone. More than anything they would all be safe. With Professor Dumbledore watching over everyone there was no need for either the students or their parents to worry. It was going to be a good year, she could feel it.


	9. Chapter 9, The Curse of Halloween

**AN: So here we are, another chapter. There was a bit of a wait for this one as I kind of got carried away with my not-so-side-project-anymore (Rebuild) but here it is anyway, Chapter 9.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter!**

Chapter 9, The Curse of Halloween.

By Wednesday afternoon Frances was thoroughly knackered. She only had two extra classes this year, but after the long lazy summer her body wasn't quite used to the early starts just yet. Ancient Runes and Arithmancy were her new subjects. Most of her classmates had been put off taking Ancient Runes by the tome sized textbook, and as Arithmancy involved logic and problem solving, rather than fun incantations or other more direct magical activities, her friends had taken the other options for third year. The only person in her classes she personally knew was Hermione, so they had agreed to work together.

By lunch time she was sat at the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall, waiting for her friends to join her for lunch, and her head was full to bursting with all sorts of numbers and magical symbols. When Cassandra came to sit beside her she had to move her gigantic tome that took up the seat next to her onto the floor.

"How were your new classes?" Cassandra asked as she sat down.

"Fascinating, although I'm not sure if even I will be able to finish reading that thing," she said, indicating the book at their feet. "How were yours?"

"I absolutely loved Divination," Cassandra said excitedly. "We're going to learn how to read tea leaves and crystal balls and all sorts of different ways of telling the future, I've already started adding to my notebook. Professor Trelawney...

"She doesn't care about that Cas, tell her about the Hippogriff!" Hannah interrupted.

"Oh, well in Care of Magical Creatures..."

"In Care of Magical Creatures Professor Hagrid showed us a Hippogriff, absolutely amazing creature, and he let Harry fly him, and then Malfoy tried to stroke it and it kicked him and he's in the hospital wing now."

"Take a breath Hannah," Susan said laughing. "I don't know why you didn't take the subject Frances, you would have loved the Hippogriff."

"I'm sure I would have," said Frances, laughing at Hannah's outburst, "but there's just something incredibly fascinating about learning another language, an ancient magical language. And haven't you ever wondered why certain wand movements have certain effects, or why potions ingredients react in different ways, it's all connected you see, like a mathematical pattern, all you have to do is find the pattern and, what?" She asked when she realised all three of her friends were staring at her.

"I've never seen you so passionate about school work before, it's rather scary." Cassandra said.

"You haven't heard her discussing the International Warlock Convention or the Goblin Wars with Padma Patil," Susan contributed. Frances blushed. She did get a little carried away sometimes but she just loved learning all the ancient lore. Cassandra was the same when she talked about the stars.

"There's nothing wrong with being passionate about stuff," she said, "at least I don't waste my time with things like Quidditch or who ever is on the front of the latest edition of Witch Weekly." It was Hannah's turn to blush. She had a bit of a habit of becoming slightly obsessed with Witch Weekly's latest hot topic, although she'd never revealed her obsessions to her friends, so Frances didn't realise she was actually making fun of her.

"I think you need a hobby." Cassandra announced. "You're not into Quidditch, or anything that doesn't involve reading for that matter, but there must be something you can do for fun."

"I have fun!" Frances protested. "I have fun when I'm hanging out with you guys."

"Yeah, so much fun that you usually ditch us to go to the library. You've never even been to a Quidditch match!"

"That's because the library is quieter when everyone's down at the pitch." Frances countered.

"I'll make you a deal. You come to the first Hufflepuff match, and in return I'll do all of my homework for the rest of the year without complaining."

Frances shook her head, "you should be doing your homework without complaining anyway, how do you expect to become a good witch?"

"I'm already skilled in Astronomy and Divination and Charms is easy. I don't really care about the other subjects."

"You won't be saying that in two years time when we're studying for our OWLS."

"No, I'll be too busy studying. Come on Frances just this once come watch the game with us, you never know, you might actually enjoy it."

Frances wanted to frown at her friend and tell her no, but Cassandra was pulling puppy dog eyes at her and she was finding it hard to refuse her. "Oh alright then, I'll come to the match," she finally said.

The girls were incredibly busy for the first two months, with the extra classes and homework they were finding little time to just hang out. The first time Frances really had a chance to let herself relax was on their first Hogsmeade visit on Halloween. They had such a good time browsing through all the shops, buying tons of sweeties and supplies for school, and relaxing in the Three Broomsticks drinking butterbeer. It was the sweetest drink she had ever tasted, almost sickeningly so, even the froth had such a strong creamy taste. The day out had been fun and they were all tired when they got back to the castle but it wasn't over yet; they still had the feast to attend.

Cassandra had a feeling of foreboding as they made their way to the Great Hall. Frances told her she was being silly but she couldn't help feeling that she might just be right. There wasn't exactly a great track record when it came to the Halloween feast, what with the troll in first year and the basilisk attack last year. She wondered if there was some sort of curse, after all it wasn't just witches and wizards who celebrated all things supernatural on 31st October. How did the muggles find out about Halloween anyway?

She didn't have time to ponder this question as they soon arrived at the Great Hall. As always it was a spectacle to behold; all floating pumpkins and colourful streamers hanging from candles. There were about a hundred charmed bats flying around and she was sure the eery singing was coming from the transfigured cats. Halloween was an almost bigger occasion than Christmas in the wizarding world and Frances loved it, especially here at Hogwarts, were the tables were full of candy and chocolate and all the yummy things muggle children have to dress up and do party tricks for.

It was one of those rare occasions were everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, from the least likeable Slytherin to Dumbledore himself, who was laughing merrily at a story Hagrid was telling and sloshing pumpkin juice down his beard. Professor McGonagall was attempting to look stern as she watched the antics of the Weasley twins but she didn't seem inclined to do anything about it. Even Filch cracked a smile, but at what no one could say. Once all the food was gone and everyone had headed off to bed Frances and the girls were still buzzing. They had sneaked some pumpkin juice down from the hall and were now heating it up at their hearth.

"See, I told you nothing was going to happen," Frances told Cassandra. There had been no disasters of any kind, no troll, no basilisks, nothing.

"I was only being cautious, you never know with this place."

Frances shook her head. "Hogwarts is the safest place you can be, with Dumbledore here anyway. What could have gone wrong?"

"You mean besides the obvious?"

That brought about a few laughs, not because the events of the previous years had been funny, just the fact that such events were considered obvious in the first place. Hogwarts was a rather strange place and you never knew what was going to happen. So far this year had been pretty quiet, and it sort of made Cassandra feel uneasy, like she was just waiting for something to go wrong. Not only that but for the last few weeks the stars had been telling her that something was coming, something or someone and she hated not knowing what or who. As it turned out she didn't have to wait long to find out.

Before the girls had even had a chance to finish their drinks there was a nock on the bedroom door. Hannah, who was the closest to the door, got up to answer it. It was a sixth year girl named Rebecca Rivers. "We've all to go back up to the Great Hall, Dumbledore's orders," she said. Still dressed in their pyjamas and slippers and feeling completely confused the girls followed the rest of their house mates back upstairs. Once inside the Great Hall they were met with a troublesome scene. What looked like the entire student body of Gryffindor house were huddled together and talking frantically to one other. Some looked panicked, others scared, and at the other end of the hall the teachers were gathered together, discussing something that seemed to be rather distressing. Frances spotted Harry, Ron and Hermione over in one corner. "I'll be right back," she said to her friends.

"What's going on?" She asked when she reaches her Gryffindor friends.

"Oh, hey Frances," Ron said distractedly.

"We can't get into out common room!" Hermione exclaimed. "The lady in our portrait was attacked!"

"Attacked? By who? A Slytherin?"

"No, er, it was," she shot a worried glance in Harry's direction, unsure if she was allowed to say.

"You may as well tell her Hermione the whole school's gonna find out soon enough."

"Well, it was, it was Sirius Black," she said.

"What!? Here in the castle? How?"

"We don't know, but we think," she looked at Harry again, but didn't finish her sentence.

"We think he's after me," Harry said quietly.

Frances didn't know what to say. Why did these sort of things always happen to him? Before she could ask however Dumbledore shouted to get everyone's attention.

"I am afraid, for your own safety, you'll have to spend the night here," he informed the students. He told them all that the staff were going to do a thorough search of the castle and in the mean time the prefects would be in charge. Before he left with the other Professors he conjured large purple sleeping bags for everyone to sleep in.

Cassandra climbed into hers and rolled on her side to face Frances. "Told you something was going to happen," she whispered to her friend.

The attack was all that anyone could talk about for days. The Slytherins took great joy in commiserating rather loudly that Black hadn't gotten into the common room, and the Ravenclaws were trying to figure out how he could have possibly gotten into the castle in the first place. Most of the Hufflepuffs were trying to ignore the whole situation and hope it would blow over but it wasn't in Cassandra's nature to just let things be.

"What if he comes back?" She asked one evening.

"Then he'll get caught," Frances said without looking up from her book.

"Yeah Dumbledore will be ready for him this time," Hannah added.

"But we won't be, what if he sneaks up on us, and there aren't any teachers about?"

Frances marked her place on the page and looked up at her friend. "There isn't much we can do Cas, we're just kids."

"I know that. We should practice, you know, defending ourselves and stuff. Like if he came at me I'd just cast incendio and burn him or something."

"Lovely, and you want to practice that on us?" Frances asked sarcastically.

"Yes, I mean no. I mean we should practice protego and stuff, you know, the stuff Professor Lupin's been teaching us."

"Well, even though I think that it's highly unlikely that we'll be in that situation, I think it's a good idea. You never were very enthusiastic about homework but remember when we practiced the counter curses in first year? That was fun, and we all got top marks for that assignment." She turned to Susan and Hannah to see if they were game and to her delight they were both nodding enthusiastically.

With the help of some older students the girls managed to clear a space in the middle of the floor, and by the time they were ready to start about 10 others wanted to join in too. Cedric Diggory enchanted a chair with a spell to make it indestructible and placed it in the middle of the circle they had formed. Taking it in turns the students cast the first spell that came to mind, the one they were most likely to cast if they were suddenly faced with danger. As she had said Cassandra cast incendio, a blazing trail of fire escaping from her wand and setting the chair alight. Thanks to Cedric's spell the chair remained unharmed. Frances used stupefy which of course had no effect on the chair other than to topple it over and Rebecca Rivers used a blinding spell that only managed to disorientate everyone, thus ending the practice.

Although it had been intended as homework everyone had actually really enjoyed their little practice session. It reminded Frances of a game some of the girls used to play in the playground back in muggle school, except they were using real magic. It had been a long time since she had put her books aside and just had fun. It was easy to forget that she didn't just go to school with these people, that they lived together, and were like family. Not just Cassandra and Susan and Hannah, but all the Hufflepuffs.

She remembered what it had been like the previous year when she had been left out from her immediate group of friends, and wished she had made that realisation sooner. She knew that if she had just asked for it the other Hufflepuffs would have taken her in. That's what it meant to be a Hufflepuff, they looked after one another. Today was a firm example of that, with the threat of Sirius Black looming over them they could have easily tried to ignore the situation and hope it would go away, try to stay out of trouble as Hermione would put it, but they didn't. They were going to stick together, like a family.

The weather was chilly and cold with promises of rain on the day of the Hufflepuff vs Gryffindor match, and the presence of the dementors only added to the gloomy atmosphere. Frances was trying to be optimistic about the whole thing, really she was, but she would much rather be back by the hearth in her bedroom, finishing her ancient Egyptian book or in the library finishing her transfiguration homework. When she told her friends this they would only shake their heads and remind her that she'd never even seen a Quidditch match before, therefor, how did she know she wouldn't like it.

Cassandra had explained the rules of the game to her and she thought it was rather unfair how one team could score all the goals but still loose the game because the other team's player caught the snitch. She remembered her own snitch, tucked away in the her grandad's box under her bed back home and wondered if he'd been a seeker. Had he played on the Hufflepuff team when he was at Hogwarts? She didn't have any time to think on the subject as they had reached the stadium.

The stands were a sea of red and yellow, the Gryffindor's all chanting in unison: "GO GO GRYFFINDOR! GO GO GRYFFINDOR!" The other side of the stadium was quieter but not any less excited. The buzz in the atmosphere was contagious and as the girls took their seats Frances found she was beginning to enjoy herself, just a little. It was still freezing cold and it had begun to rain but being huddled together in the stands with her friends she actually didn't mind.

Moments later the teams made their way onto the pitch. She could see Harry with his Gryffindor team mates and had to remind herself she was supposed to be supporting Hufflepuff. She didn't really know any of the players except Cedric, never the less she joined in when the students began cheering and clapping as the captains shook hands. Once Madam Hootch blew the whistle the players took to the sky and the game began.

As soon as the match started the rain went from light drizzle to pelting down, and within an instant the players were soaked to the skin. Frances tried to follow the Hufflepuff team, but her attention kept being drawn to Harry. He seemed to be having a really hard time. It looked as though he was struggling to see, which made him unsteady on his broom. At the other side of the stadium the Gryffindor's were cheering and she guessed they must have scored. Drawing her attention back to her own tran she gasped when one of the Hufflepuff chasers got hit by a bludger sent by one of the Weasley twins. The game continued for a while longer, Gryffindor scoring again putting them 50 points in the lead, when Madam Hootch blowed the whistle.

"Is it over?" Frances asked.

"No, someone's called a time out," Cassandra explained.

"Why don't they just call it off and reschedule for another day, they can't play in this weather, Harry can't even see!"

"You're supposed to be supporting Hufflepuff remember."

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Still can't they call a rain check?"

"Quidditch doesn't work like that, sometimes a game can last days if no one catches the snitch, and it certainly doesn't matter if it's raining a little."

"A little!?" Frances exclaimed, just as thunder clapped and a bolt of lighting shot down from the sky. "This isn't a little!"

Before Cassandra could say anything more the whistle had blown again and the game had resumed. Frances scouted the field until she spotted her friend, who seemed to be ok now. She watched as he dived in and out of the other players with confidence and determination. She figured he wanted to find that snitch as soon as possible so they could all get back inside. Cedric was on his heel the entire time, climbing higher and higher. Harry flew so high that Cedric started to fall back, but the Gryffindor seemed unaware.

He was now so high that the spectators couldn't see him through the rain and the clouds. When he didn't appear again for some time Frances started to grow worried. "He's a good flyer, he'll be fine," Cassandra said trying to reassure her friend. Telling herself that she was right Frances turned her attention back to the game. Gryffindor had scored another goal and the Hufflepuff beaters were trying their hardest to fend off the bludger from two of their chasers. It looked like it was going to be a grim defeat until there was a sudden uproar all around them.

"Cedric Diggory had caught the snitch!" Came Lee Jordan's voice over the tannoy. "But what's this, there appears to be something falling from the sky! Wait, not something, someone! It's, it's Harry Potter!" The entire stadium gasped and an eery silence feel as Harry plummeted to the ground, his broom crashing beside him and splintering into pieces. Frances could do nothing but stare at the spot where he had landed. Madam Hootch was running onto the pitch, closely followed by Professor McGonagall. She couldn't make out what was going on, but she continued to watch none the less, until Lee Jordan's voice announced that he was alive. "Oh thank Merlin." Frances whispered.


	10. Chapter 10, Black

**AN: So this is the last chapter I'm going to do for a little while. Having re read some of the earlier chapters I've realised they are in dire need of some editing. After that I'm going to do one or two chapters of my other fic. For now here is the next chapter. Oh, and Merry Christmas.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter! Just so we're clear.**

Chapter 10, Black

Over the Christmas holidays Frances told her family all about her year so far. She told them about her first Quidditch experience and Harry's spectacular fall from which he had thankfully recovered. Of course she neglected to mention anything about Sirius Black knowing that it would only give her parents cause to worry, instead she focused on everything she had enjoyed so far this year; her extra classes, practicing spells with her house mates, that kind of thing. Alfie was beyond excited hearing all of the stories, he would be starting Hogwarts in September and more than anything he couldn't wait to meet all of Frances' friends. He was more than a little sad as he waved goodbye from the front door as the car pulled out, taking his sister back to London and on to Hogwarts.

Back at school it didn't take long for Frances to get stuck into her regular routine. Fully aware that she was probably the only one, a not caring in the slightest, she immersed herself in studies, loving all of her classes and trying really hard to do well. The only other person she knew who felt remotely the same as her when it came to schoolwork was Hermione, but these days she had been acting a little strange. She seemed distracted and was becoming increasingly short tempered. Frances found herself wondering about it one Wednesday morning as she sat alone at her desk with her massive Ancient Runes textbook open in front of her.

The students usually worked in pairs for this subject but Frances' usual partner was missing, which was rather disconcerting. It was very unlike Hermione Granger to be late for class, and even more so for her not to attend at all. It was understandable that she may be a little tired these days, Hermione usually started studying for the end of year exams right after Christmas, but it seemed there was more to it than that. She had even gotten a question wrong in her Arithmancy test. Something was up, and given the events of the last two years Frances felt that as a friend it was important that she find out what. She resolved to ask Harry the next time she saw him.

A sharp voice and a hand waving in front of her face broke Frances from her thoughts.

"Earth calling Frances!" It was saying. She jumped and turned round quickly to find Hermione sitting beside her looking slightly exasperated. "I don't know what planet you escaped to but we're supposed to be working," she was saying.

Ignoring her comment Frances instead asked "when did you get here?"

"About five minutes ago," was her reply.

"Oh," was all Frances said, _I guess I must have been daydreaming longer than I thought._

"Well?" Hermione was saying impatiently.

"Well what?"

"We're you even listening to Professor Babbling?"

"Erm..."

"Really Frances you aught to pay more attention or you'll never pass your end of year exams!"

Frances was taken aback by Hermione's sharp tone. "Sorry," she said. Bowing her head and pulling the large book towards her she started to flick through the pages. They didn't talk for the rest of the lesson.

After two hours of being snapped at for no apparent reason Frances was more than happy to sit down at the Hufflepuff table for lunch. Hermione had been worse during their Arithmancy class and she suspected it was because of the question she had got wrong in the last test.

"You'll never guess what happened during divination!" Cassandra said excitedly as she sat down.

"You predicted you were going to pass all your exams this year?"

"Nope, your friend Hermione caused a right scene when she stormed out of the class! She knocked her crystal ball onto the floor and everything!"

It took a few moments for Frances to process this information. "But Hermione has been sitting next to me for the last two hours," she finally said.

"Well that doesn't make any sense."

"No, it doesn't."

After lunch Frances left her friends to take her Ancient Runes textbook back down to the common room; there was no point in lugging it all the way down to the dungeons for Potions. As she passed the Great Hall she bumped into Harry and Ron.

"Hey Frances! How are you?" Harry asked.

She was about to tell them she was fine when she remembered that her morning hadn't actually been fine. "Is something the matter with Hermione?" She asked suddenly.

"Well now that you mention it she has been a little testy lately," said Ron, rubbing the back of his neck like he was feeling guilty for talking about his friend behind her back. Frances almost didn't notice.

"Why? Is something going on?" She asked suspiciously.

"No!" Harry said looking scandalised. "We're not always up to something you know."

Frances just laughed and soon the boys joined in, until Ron abruptly stopped, looking over Frances' shoulder and looking terrified. Fearing the worst she whipped round to find Hermione striding towards them, looking about ready to explode.

"Why are you all just standing about!?" She asked angrily. Before anyone could answer she added, "Never mind, class starts in five minutes, come on!" She turned around sharply and started to march off again when Frances was struck by an idea.

"Wait!" She called.

"What?" Hermione asked impatiently.

"I erm, was wondering if you could help me with that Aritmancy assignment later."

A moments confusion flickered across the brunette's face before it softened. "Of course," she said, "6 o'clock in the library?"

"Sure, see you there," Frances said smiling before running off to class.

After dinner Frances made her way up to the library. She spread her homework out onto the large desk in front of her; parchment, quills, ink, workbooks and reference charts, and got started while she waited for Hermione to join her. Ten minutes later her study partner finally arrived, red faced and breathless.

"Are you alright?" Asked Frances.

"I'm fine," Hermione answered breathlessly. "Started without me did you?"

"Well I have a lot to get through," she replied. The truth was she wanted to get as much of the actual work out of the way so that she would have more time to talk with her friend and try to work out what was going on

"So the equation is dependant on time?" Frances asked.

"Yes, it doesn't matter what the variable is," Hermione explained. "If the diminutive is equal or more to the time the spell is cast then the result will always be a positive."

"I think I get it. I didn't realise time was such an important factor."

"You're telling me," Hermione said, rubbing her forehead.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just tired."

"I know what you mean, there aren't enough hours in the day."

Hermione gave a small humourless laugh. "There are plenty of hours, if you know where to find the time."

As the year dragged on Frances found herself getting more and more weary. It wasn't just the school work, it was everything from the weather to the sour mood in the common room heightened by the still looming threat of Sirius Black. By the time the last of the exams came around she should have been feeling relieved, she really should, but for some reason she couldn't explain she just didn't. Despite that fact that it was now spring it was horribly dark outside and as she made her way to the Great Hall she found herself wishing that it would hurry up and be summer already.

After the exam was over Cassandra persuaded Frances and the others to spend the rest of their free time outside as the weather was finally clearing up a little. They took their lunch out to the stone circle to eat and were chatting away happily when Cassandra stopped abruptly.

"What's the matter?" Asked Hannah.

Cassandra lifted her hand and pointed over to the edge of the forest where a group of trees was clearly visible. Sitting amongst the trees was what appeared to be a large black dog. It stood completely still, blending into the shadows, and for a moment it seemed to look right at them. All the colour had drained from Cassandra's face.

"It's just a dog," supplied Frances.

Cassandra just shook her head. "It's not a dog," she whispered. "Its an omen."

At her words the girls started to look cautiously around them, after all when it came to signs and omens Cassandra was usually right. With each passing moment they felt the atmosphere changing around them. The dog was still watching with large yellow eyes from its spot at the edge of the forest, and not too far from where he stood Frances could see and feel the black hooded figures of the dementors. The chill ran right up her spine and she quickly found herself suggesting they return to the castle. Mumbling to themselves her friends agreed and they were soon hurrying across the almost deserted grounds to safety.

As they neared the small courtyard however, Frances suddenly stopped. There was a familiar yet unfamiliar noise drifting through the chill air and her instincts were screaming at her to avoid this potentially dangerous situation and take the long way round. Unfortunately her friends had already gone on ahead. Running to catch up she rounded the corner and started as she came face to face with a rather frightening figure.

The man was clad entirely in black; from the studded mask that hid his face to the heavy leather boots that seemed to anchor him to the spot. His beady eyes never left his axe, which he had propped up on a bench to sharpen, the metal gleaming in the fading sunlight. The eery scratching of metal on stone is the only sound to be heard in the courtyard and Frances finds herself rooted to the spot, staring with wide blue eyes at the scene and hardly daring to breathe. Then Cassandra is beside her and pulling gently at her sleeve.

"Come on!" she hisses, and Frances finds herself being pulled inside.

The clatter that drifts out from the Great Hall as they make their way down to the dorms is incredibly comforting after the eery noises from outside. Eager to get as far away as possible from the cold and the strangeness of the last half hour the girls pick up their pace, hardly watching where they are going. It is inevitable then, that as they round the corner, Frances crashes straight into somebody sending them crashing to the floor.

"Sorry!" She exclaimed, panicking slightly.

"It's no problem." Said the familiar voice.

Harry gets to his feet and smooths down his robes and attempts to flatten his hair. "It was my fault," he said, "we were in a rush." He gestures to Ron and Hermione who are standing close by, looking a mixture of concerned, anxious and frightened all at the one time. "Actually we really aught to go," he said, and with a hurried smile he waves goodbye and rushes off, his friends close behind him.

"What was that all about?" Susan asked once the Gryffindors were out of earshot. Frances just shrugged, with those three, it could have been anything.

A few minutes later they are passing the kitchens, just a short corridor away from the safety of the Hufflepuff common room when Frances stops again.

"Crap!" She shouts.

"What is it?" Cassandra asked worriedly.

"I've left my Ancient Runes book in the library!"

If it had been anywhere else, the classroom or the Hall or even the bathroom she would have just left it, no one was going to try and steal a book that size, but if Madam Pince found it on the table she would not hesitate to put it 'back where it belongs' and she would never get it back. "I won't be long," she promised and she hurried off back up the corridor.

She took the stairs two at a time, speeding along the corridor and up the second flight until she burst through the door leading out to the atrium. It was still fairly crowded and she tried to squeeze through without knocking anyone over this time. Just as she was about to jump onto a moving staircase she spotted Hermione and Harry descending the staircase opposite her. Confused, she tried to work out how they had got there, considering that only moments before they had ran full speed out of the front door. The staircase they were on could only be accessed from the hospital wing, the entrance to which was on the opposite side of the castle, and four floors above. Unless they had somehow managed to apparate within the castle she had absolutely no idea how they had got there. She was still trying to work it out in her head as she lay in bed later that evening.

Given that the exams were now over, and the unsettling weirdness of the previous day (because it had been a particularly strange day, from the black dog that had watched them from the edge of the forest and the intimidating presence of the executioner to the fact that Frances was convinced that Harry and Hermione had been in two places at to one time) was now behind them, the four Hufflepuffs threw themselves into the farewell feast with vigour.

For some inexplicable reason the tension that had surrounded the castle since the start of the year had somehow evaporated, and everyone, most notable the teachers, had relaxed considerably. Cassandra said it was something to do with the full moon, and for once Frances was inclined to believe her. Still, regardless of what exactly had caused the change in atmosphere, everyone seemed to be in high spirits, and all very much looking forward to the summer ahead.

Once everyone was full to bursting with delicious food and more than just a little sleepy Professor Dumbledore stood to address his weary students.

"Well," he began, his voice soft and gentle yet loud enough to carry throughout the hall. "It had certainly been another exciting year here at Hogwarts!" He had a gleam in his eyes and Frances thought she saw them twitch in the direction of the Gryffindor table. "But as always, we have remained strong, we have put our heads together, and we have come out of it smarter, and brighter witches and wizards." He pauses to gaze around the room, still smiling. "It is also my greatest pleasure to announce that next year we will **not **be playing host to our er, _enchanting, _black cloaked guests." It took the students a few moments to register what he was telling them.

"You mean the dementors are going back to Azkaban?!" Came a loud voice from the Gryffindor table.

"Yes," Dumbledore nodded. "It seems we are not in need of them anymore."

Utterly baffled by this Frances wonders what on earth could have happened for them to stop the search for Sirius Black, especially after the break in earlier in the year, but if the calm expression on the headmaster's face as he now prattled on about something nonsensical was anything to go by, she knew in her gut that he would never deliberately put any one of his students in danger. Whatever had happened to the crazed, escaped convict, he was no longer a threat to them. _I'll have to ask Harry about it, _she thinks to herself.


End file.
